Wheel of Fate
by MidnightFenrir
Summary: For each decision we make, the wheel turns. It spins endlessly, showing us the many possibilities that the past, present and future hold. The Wheel of Fate is turning, and each of its revolutions shall reveal to us a different realm where things may or may not be different from those we know. A series of short Rayshipping stories. Rating may change from story to story.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! this is MidnightFenrir speaking, and since you guys enjoyed A Tale of Two Souls very much, I decided to give Rayshipping another go! Be warned, however, that while it could be considered a... divergence, let's say, of my previous story, it might not be in the same tone.**

 **As for those who asked for me to transform A Tale of Two Souls into a full multi-chapter story, I'm still weighting the choices on this.**

 **But enough about that! Let's get on with the story, shall we? I present to you "Wheel of Fate".**

 **Just a little warning first: since this is an AU, I made a few changes that you will (obviously) see.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 **The Wheel of Fate is turning**

 **First Revolution: Part One**

This was it.

The hardest battle since his time at the Kanto Battle Frontier was upon him. This was going to be as tough as his battle against Brandon, if not tougher.

In a matter of hours, he was going to face against Tobias.

Those were the thoughts going through the head of one Ash Ketchum as he sat outside of the Pokemon Center near the stadium of the Lilly of the Valley island, Pikachu perched on his shoulder as always.

But could he win? Tobias had only revealed a single member of his team so far, even if that member was a legendary, and the rest of his pokemon remained unknown. For the first time since the start of his journey in Sinnoh, Ash doubted his ability to win.

Of course, he had lost some his battles, but he knew as well as anyone that those were battles he COULD have won. However, he didn't know if he even had a chance against Tobias.

But he couldn't back down. Especially not now. This was the farthest he had ever come. He was in the semi-finals of the conference and winning it was within his reach, for Arceus's sake!

This was why he was going to pour everything he had learned in his eight years since he had become a pokemon trainer. His journeys through Kanto, the Orange Archipelago, Johto, Hoenn, his latest one in Sinnoh along with his trip to the Battle Frontier and the many events surrounding those had taught him a lot. And he intended to use it all in the incoming battle.

Ash closed his eyes, remembering his adventures fondly. Among them, several stood out in his mind, like when he saw Ho-Oh at the start of his journey, his encounters with Mew and Mewtwo, the whole Chosen One tale in the Orange Archipelago and many more.

All of those events and many more were forever graved into his memory. They had forged him, molded him into both the person and the trainer he was today.

This battle was the final step, the last challenge he had to overcome in order to prove he had what it takes to become a Pokemon Master.

The only question was: how was he going to win?

"I see that you're still here, after all."

The familiar voice making his eyes snap open, Ash turned to face Paul, who was approaching him.

"Paul." he greeted, not really knowing what to say to his rival.

The lavender haired trainer sat down beside him and, for a good minute, they stayed silent, looking at the horizon.

"Are you afraid about tomorrow?" Paul suddenly asked.

Neither he or Ash looked at each other as the latter answered. "Afraid? No, that's not it. Anxious is more like it. It will be a tough battle, probably even harder than when I faced Brandon." he narrowed his eyes. "Honestly, I don't know if I can win this."

Paul snorted. "This, coming from you? Who are you and what have you done with Ash?"

Ash looked at his rival/friend with a look of disbelief. Had Paul just... joked? "...I might ask the same thing about you." the raven haired trainer replied, turning his gaze back to the scenery.

Once more, silence filled the conversation for a moment.

"I won't lie, Ash. I do not think you can win against Tobias. Your pokemons are good, I'll give you that, but his is a legendary. And we don't even know if that's only the tip of the iceberg or not. You won't stand a chance against him." Paul said.

Ash grit his teeth. "So I'm supposed to give up, just like that? Stop now when my dream is finally withing my grasp?"

The lavender haired trainer shook his head. "You won't stand a chance... that is if you choose to battle with the same team you used against me."

Ash turned to his rival/friend, eying him curiously. "What do you mean?"

Paul sighed. "I'm saying you should rotate your team." he replied, looking at Ash straight in the eyes. "I've done some research on you, Ash, I've also watched videos of your battles. And I was surprised, to say the least. You have several pokemons that are litteral powerhouses. Where is that Charizard of yours that fought against legendaries -and WON-? Where is that insanely fast Sceptile you used in Hoenn? Do you see what I mean? Your only hope to win is to use nothing, NOTHING but the best pokemons you captured during all your journeys." Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I know you wish to win the conference with the ones you captured here, and I commend you for it, but you will only loose in the next battle if you choose to do that."

His explanation finished, Paul stood up. "If you truly want to win, then you must come at Tobias with every single resource at your disposal, not just what you have on hand." and with that, the lavender haired trainer walked away.

Ash stared at the retreating form of his fellow trainer until it disappeared inside the Center before his eyes fell on Pikachu, who was looking at him from his seat on Ash's lap.

"'Rotate my team', huh?" the raven-haired young man muttered.

What Paul had said was true. While he wanted to win the conference with his Sinnoh team out of respect for his pokemon, he knew that this would not be enough to win against Tobias. But could he really do that to his friends and partners? Wouldn't doing this betraying their trust?

"What do you think, buddy?" Ash asked his faithful companion, whose ears twitched at the question.

The electric mouse seemed to mull it over for a few seconds before he looked up at his trainer. "Pika, pikapi. Pika kachu, pipikachu kapi chu pika." _"It's your call, partner. But I think you should ask the team what they think themselves."_

Ash closed his eyes as he nodded. "You're right." he said as took the five pokeballs off his belt. "Come on out everyone!"

In a flash of light, his team appeared in front him. Staraptor, Buizel, Gabite, Infernape and Torterra looked around, curious as to why their trainer had called them.

Said trainer took a deep breath as he wondered how exactly he was going to tell them the news. "Guys, I've got something to say to you all." Ash said and his pokemon instantly shifted their focus on him. By the tone of his voice and body language, they knew that this was a serious matter. "As you know, today we managed to win our way into the semi-finals. And for that, I'm proud of all of you." The pokemons cheered at the praise before he raised a hand to silence them. "However, our next opponent is on a whole other level than anything we've faced before. So far, he only used a single pokemon to destroy his opponents and that was the legendary Darkraï." his friends gasped in astonishment.

How could they not? The fact that the guy had bought a legendary of all pokemons to the competition was in itself mind-blowing.

Seeing his team look between themselves in hesitation, Ash continued. "I think you can see the situation just as I do. As we are now, I'm afraid our chance of winning are slim... at best." his friends looked down and he shook his head rapidly. "That's not to say we're weak, don't get me wrong. But even as strong as we are now, it won't be enough." they nodded, albeit reluctantly. "As it is, I'm only seeing one way for us to do this." they leaned in expectantly and Ash swallowed with some difficulty. "I... would have to rotate some of you for others of my pokemons." he said quietly.

The words were met with silence and he took it as a sign to continue. "I know. I promised that we would win this together, that we'd reach the top, but Tobias is an unexpected dark horse we are NOT ready for. To win against him, to even HOPE to win, I'm going to need my best partners."

His explanation finished, Ash looked at his pokemons, who seemed to be deep in thought. He took a deep breath and sighed as he stood up. "I'll you guys decided. But whatever you choose, know that I'm proud of you, of US, and what we've done together." he said as he turned around and, as his friends started to talk between themselves, walked to a nearby tree before sitting against it and gazing at the sky.

It was a clear night, without a single cloud and he could see the stars clearly.

Idly, he wondered at how Tobias had gotten his hands on Darkraï. It was only a couple of weeks since he and his friends has left Allamos town, and he was pretty sure Alissa would have called them if Darkraï had suddenly been captured by a trainer. That, and the huge difference in power between the two (one could go toe on toe with Dialga and Palkia, for Arceus's sake!), ruled out the possibility of Tobias's pokemon being that same Darkraï. Having met most of the legendaries of each region he had went through, Ash knew by now that they weren't limited to a single member of their species. The baby Lugia and its mother that he had saved in Johto only a few months after having met the true Guardian of the Seas was proof enough of that.

Ash supposed that even though there were several legendaries of the same species in the world, only those seated with Arceus in the Hall of Origin were the "True" Legends that kept order in the world.

Going by this, Tobias's Darkraï was one of the "false" legendary pokemons that roamed the world, which also explained why no one had suffered from nightmares in the past few days. However, that didn't change the fact that a legendary, false or not, wasn't powerful.

Which made Ash think back to his actual problem of finding a way to defeat said legendary.

Maybe he could ask Mewtwo?

…

Yeah, right. Like that would work.

Even though the Genetic Pokemon trusted him, the raven-haired trainer doubted he would accept to fight for him in a stadium full of all kinds of humans.

Sighing, the young man lowered his head in defeat.

"You seem troubled, Ash. It is quite unusual to see you in such a state."

Jumping slightly at the familiar, yet unexpected, voice, Ash craned his neck to look at its owner. Standing beside him, leaning slightly against the tree, Cynthia Shirona was looking down at him with a soft smile on her face.

Ash blinked a few times. What was she doing here?

"Oh, Cynthia. Sorry, I... er... didn't see you there." he replied, not really knowing what to say.

The Sinnoh Champion's smile widened slightly. "You need not apologize, Ash. I could see you were in deep thoughts and didn't want to interrupt until you you were finished. I assume you were thinking about your match tomorrow?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I know that even though my pokemons and I are a strong team, Tobias would simply wipe the floor with us. If I want to win, I'm going to need more than just the bonds between us and my strategies. I'll need some serious firepower to back it up." he answered, scratching the back of his head nervously. "So, even though I don't really like it, my only option would be to switch for some of my other more powerful and experienced pokemons." gesturing to his team, he continued. "However, I will not do so if my friends do not agree with it. I explained the situation to them and it's their decision to make. But whatever they choose, I'll go with it, even if it would lead me to loose tomorrow. Because they are my friends and partners."

For a few seconds, Cynthia stayed silent and Ash wondered if, as a Champion, she found his reasoning to be the one of a naive fool. Then,

"You are truly a magnificent Pokemon Trainer, Ash." he heard her say softly.

Raising an eyebrow, the young man turned to the woman five years his senior... and was stunned by what he saw.

Not leaning against the tree anymore, her smile still gracing her features, Cynthia was tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear as she looked at the starry sky. The soft breeze made her coat and hair float gently behind her as the glow of the moon illuminated her figure.

It was breathtaking; and Ash could do nothing but stare at the beautiful -no, more than that- gorgeous sight before him. It stirred something within his heart. Something unfamiliar, yet pleasant. A strange feeling that made him warm, somehow, in the fresh air of the night.

After several seconds of silence, Ash managed to find his voice to ask her, "What do you mean?"

The Champion's smile disappeared as she turned her gaze back to him and closed her eyes slowly. "In my years, both as a trainer and as a Champion, I've seen many kinds of trainers, each belonging to different kinds of people. I've seen some treating their pokemons as if their were simple tools. Others treating them as pets, even going as far as abusing them. It might be hard to believe, but trainers who care about their pokemons, who think of them as partners and friends, are growing fewer with each passing year." she said before opening her eyes and looking straight into his. "But you, Ash, are different. You have a special bond with each of your pokemons unlike any other person I've ever seen. Something that goes beyond the bonds between friends, partners or even family. You are someone who dedicates his entire being to pokemons. You live for them and would die for them. You, Ash Ketchum, love pokemons more than anyone I know in this world."

To say that Ash was taken aback by this speech would be an understatement. No one had ever complimented him in such a way, not even his mother. Even if what Cynthia had said made sense (and was true, he admitted), it still felt as if a one-ton heavy hammer had just clubbed his head (and his heart along the way).

By the time he had come out of his stupor, he knew that his face must have held the same shade of red than Pikachu's cheeks.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, he struggled to find a reply. "Um... thanks. That's... er... very kind of you." he muttered, looking anywhere but Cynthia's face.

And there it was again: that weird (but a good weird, mind you) feeling.

What in Arceus's name was wrong on with him?

Ash stole another glance at the blonde, trying to fight down his blush. Even though she wasn't the first Champion he had ties of friendship with, he was still a bit at odds on how to act around her.

It wasn't that she was different from Lance or Steven, far from it, or because she was a woman. So what (still) was it that STILL made her different in his eyes? Was it because of that feeling she stirred within him?

Yes, that was surely it. But what was that feeling to begin with?

It was her voice that broke him from his musings once more. "I'll be blunt, Ash: not much people expect you to win tomorrow. But that doesn't mean that they don't WANT you to, don't misunderstand that." The raven-haired trainer nodded, acknowledging the truth of her words. "You've become the crowd favorite of this conference for a good reason. They wish for you to win. To show to Tobias, and to them, that legendary pokemons aren't invincible as they seem to be." Pausing, she turned to him. "The question is: will you?"

"Of course." he found himself blurting out. "Going against the odds has never stopped me before, and I do not intend to back down now. Never have I entered a battle with 'I cannot win' in mind. I know there are a lot of people cheering for me, having expectations of me, and I do not intend to let them down."

Cynthia smiled once more. "That's what I wanted to hear. Never forget this resolve that you possess, Ash. Everything that you've learned since the start of your journey, your love for pokemons, your skill, your will to fight. Take it all and use it into your battle tomorrow to grasp victory. And even if you loose, then use this defeat to learn from your mistakes and improve. That; is what it means to be a pokemon trainer."

Ash stayed silent for a moment as he gave the Sinnoh Champion an impressed look. "As expected of a Champion. That was quite the pep talk." he chuckled.

To his surprise, and pleasure (where in the Reverse World did that come from, he wondered), Cynthia turned her head away from him with an embarrassed look. "H-hey! I was simply s-speaking what I thought! It's not like I did it on p-purpose!" she defended herself as Ash simply stared at her, astonished.

How in Arceus's name had he managed to reduce the Sinnoh Champion, one of the most strong-willed women he knew, to a sputtering mess with a simple tease?! And was that a blush he saw on her face?!

Utterly confused and slightly panicking, Ash did the only think he knew to do in such situations: apologize. "Ah! Sorry, sorry! I just- I didn't mean to-!" he stuttered, raising his hands as his face colored.

The two squirmed awkwardly, trying to find a way to defuse the situation, until their eyes caught each other's. For a few seconds, they stayed silent before starting to snicker, eventually laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

And, Ash had to admit it, it felt good to laugh. The tension that he had accumulated in the past hours seemed to disappear from his shoulders as he and Cynthia's laughter filled the silence of the night.

Besides, he decided, he liked her laugh.

…

Where had THAT come from?!

Sure, it was a clear and beautiful sound that suited her just right but-

Ash instantly cut that line of thought before it could get any further, for the sake of his mental well-being.

After their laughter had subsided, he gave the blonde Champion a grateful smile. "Thank you, Cynthia. I needed that."

The older woman smiled softly as she shrugged. "What are friends for?" she retorted.

Ash raised an amused eyebrow. "You forget I'm traveling with Brock. Also, my first companion followed me all the way through Kanto because she wanted me to pay back her bike that Pikachu thrashed."

Cynthia hid a giggle behind her hand as she replied. "True."

Ash smiled. "But you're right. Through my journeys, my friends have always supported me or helped me. Especially Brock, as weird as it sounds, who became a sort of perverted older brother to me." he said.

The blonde shook her head, remembering the antics of the Pewter native, before she tilted her head at him with a curious look. "What about your other companions?" she asked.

The raven-haired hummed as he looked at the sky, thinking back at the different people who had accompanied him on his travels. "Well, Brock has kind of always been with me. It was only for a short time that Tracey took his place before he became professor Oak's new assistant. He was similar to Brock, in a way, but he didn't give me the kind of older sibling feeling that Brock did. Besides, he prefers studying pokemon where Brock prefers to raise them. While Tracey is clearly cut to be a researcher, Brock prefers the path of a Breeder and pokemon doctor." There, Ash paused.

"When Brock, Misty and I separated after the Silver conference in Johto, and I went to Hoenn, I met May. She had just started her journey and, despite her father being a gym leader, knew next to nothing about battles or training pokemons in general. I sort of took both her and her brother, Max, under my wing. I guess you could say they were my students. I taught them everything I know about pokemons, be it training, battling or caring. Since then, May has pretty much found her path, that of a coordinator. As for Max, he says he wants to be like me -for now anyway- but I think he'll follow a path similar to Garry's."

Cynthia blinked. "'Garry'? As in Garry Oak, Professor Oak's grandson?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. He and I grew up together in Pallet and started our journey the same day." he chuckled. "He was kind of a jerk back then. But we both matured over the years and while I still walk the path to mastery, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather to become a researcher. And a good one at that, if what the newspaper say is true."

The blonde nodded. "It's true that his name is started to appear more and more often during the past year. Some call him a genius, others the one who will lead pokemon research for the next half-century." she paused, then shook her head before looking at him again. "And what about Dawn?"

Ash turned his gaze skyward, thinking about his blue-haired friend. "Dawn... I guess she's like the little sister I never had." Looking at Cynthia, he laughed at her expression of surprise and curiosity. "At first, it was just like May: I was a mentor to her about pokemons, contests and traveling. After that it slowly evolved. I think she may have held romantic feelings for me at some point, but it quickly morphed into a sibling love." He paused as his lips stirred into a content smile. "If there is one thing I can say with absolute certainty though, it's that those people are like family to me. And I would do anything for them."

A comfortable silence fell upon the two as they gazed at the stars before Cynthia spoke softly.

"Ash... tell me, have you ever been in love?"

The young man froze at those words and then felt his heartbeat speed up as he answered. "I... might have held a crush or two at some point... but it passed quickly enough that I didn't ask myself what it was that I was feeling. So... no, I guess I've never been in love before." After a few seconds, he managed to ask, "Why is that?"

The Champion closed her eyes before shaking her head. "Nothing. Just a random thought that went through my head." she replied before looking at him and then behind him. "It seems your pokemons have decided on their answer."

Indeed, when Ash turned around, he found his team looking at him with determined eyes... though he wondered why some of them, and Pikachu in particular, seemed to looks at him in amusement

Bracing himself, Ash looked at his pokemons, and tried to keep the nervousness out of his voice. "So, guys, you have decided?"

The all nodded and Pikachu stepped forward before giving his partner a big smile that told Ash everything he needed to know and his face lit up with a smile of his own. "So that's how it's going to be, huh? Thanks, everyone. It means a lot to me that you are willing to do this. I won't disappoint you, that's a promise." he said as he embraced his pokemons one by one and they gave one last cheer before he returned them to their pokeballs, minus Pikachu who climbed to his usual spot of Ash's shoulder.

"Well then, you know what to do, right?" Cynthia said.

Ash turned back to her, still smiling. "Yeah, I do. Thanks, Cynthia."

The Champion smiled. "I'm glad." she replied before she looked down with a pensive look on her face. "Ash, can you do me a favor?"

The raven-haired trainer raised an eyebrow for a second before nodding. "Of course. Anything." he answered.

The blonde smiled once more. "Can you close your eyes for a bit?"

Ash blinked at the odd request, but complied with a nod before closing his eyes.

For a moment, nothing happened and Ash was tempted to ask why she had asked him this.

Then, he felt something moist and soft touch his forehead as Cynthia's lips deposited a gentle kiss on it.

Ash's eyes snapped open as the Champion drew back and he gawked at her, cheeks burning.

Seeing the silent question in his gaze, Cynthia chuckled softly, controlling her own blush. "A good luck charm." she said before turning her back to him. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ash. Do not forget what was said tonight." and with those parting words, she left, leaving a dumbfounded Ash and a snickering Pikachu.

For what seemed like hours, Ash just stared open mouthed in the direction Cynthia had left before he brought a hand to the spot she had kissed. It was warm and slightly wet.

The sound of Pikachu falling from his shoulder in laughter broke him out of his spacing.

"That's right, laugh at me, will you..." he muttered as he glared slightly at his partner, only succeeding in increasing the electric mouse's laughter.

* * *

 **And that's it for the first part of the first revolution of this wheel of fate! Tell me what you think about it!**

 **This is MidnightFenrir, author of "Wheel of Fate", signing out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**All right folks! Here comes the second part!**

 **I'll be truthful with you guys (and ladies): I don't think I've even watched more than a hundred episodes of Pokemon, all seasons included. Sure, I've seen the films but I've never had the patience of watching every single episode. I've got a general outline of what happens in the diamond and pearl seasons and which episodes where Cynthia appears, but that's all!**

 **Anyway, let's get on with the battle against Tobias! I wrote it while listening to "OK!" (Charizard VS Balstoise soundtrack of the Ash VS Gary battle. You can find it easily on Youtube).**

 **This one is REALLY long, by the way. Lots of stuff happening and being said. I hope this will be one of the best Ash VS Tobias that you'll ever read.**

 **As said before, you'll find some obvious changes to canon. Here, it mainly has to do with Ash's pokemons' moves. For example, Pikachu already knows Electro Ball, a 5th gen move that he only learned while in Unova.**

 **Now, Midnight has just rang its twelve bells. It's time for Fenrir to come out and for the writer to go to sleep.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 **The Wheel of Fate is turning. Let us see what this Shift in the Continuum has wrought.**

 **First Revolution: Part 2**

Since his match against Tobias was taking place mid afternoon, the first thing Ash did was to wake up earlier than he did in the morning to make a few calls in order to switch his team. After that, he got some last minute training done to see what his friends had learned by themselves.

As he looked at his team, the raven haired trainer felt both proud and nostalgic as he remembered the adventures he had gone through with them.

Charizard, one of his first pokemons. The fire dragon and Ash had been through a lot of ups and downs along with a few bumps on the road that led them to where they stood now. He was Ash's strongest partner and the one he was the closest with beside Pikachu.

Sceptile, probably his fastest pokemon on ground. He was also very cunning and never lost his cool in the midst of battle. It was him Ash trusted the most to make snap decisions when he couldn't give an order in time.

Kingler was, perhaps, one of his most 'normal' pokemons. He wasn't overly affectionate (*cough* Bayleef *cough*), nor was he battle-thirsty. Ash had hesitated between him, Glalie and Crawdaunt but had settled for the pincer pokemon because of his bigger endurance.

Heracross had changed since he had last saw him. The laid-back sap lover seemed to have matured over the three years since his capture. He still retained his laid-back attitude, but he seemed ready to battle at any moment.

Pidgeot, another of his first companions and his fastest. Her time as protector of the Pidgey flock from the Spearows and Fearows had only made her stronger and Ash couldn't wait to see how she would fare in this battle.

And last, but certainly not least, Pikachu. His starter, partner and so much more. Pikachu wasn't as strong as Charizard, nor was he as fast as Pidgeot or Sceptile, but there was no mistake about the fact that the electric mouse was Ash's best pokemon if only because of the bond they shared.

With them, Ash felt capable of beating Tobias, to prove him and everyone else that legendary pokemons weren't almighty. To prove that he had what it takes to be better than even the strength of legends. Ash knew his opponent would underestimate him like many had before him and would be overconfident in his Darkraï.

The raven haired trainer intended to make sure it would be his downfall.

Ash schooled his face into a mask of determination as he looked at his team. "This is it, everyone. Soon, they'll call us to the arena. I told you what we're expecting to face, and I sure as hell intend to win today, no matter what. I have only one thing to ask: Are. You. With me?!"

The roar that met his question was almost deafening, but he couldn't help the huge smile that came over his face at this moment.

It was a high spirited Ash that entered the locker room and the arena a few minutes later.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentelmen! To those who were here with us these past few days, welcome back! To those who are joining us today, welcome! And today is a very special day indeed, as for the semi-final of conference that will take place will oppose the crowd favorite: Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, against the man most likely, if you believe the odds, to win this conference: Tobias Richter of Eterna City! Which of those two trainers shall come on top of the other? The answer shall appear before our eyes soon enough!"

The crowd roared as the commentator finished his introduction speech but Ash didn't pay any attention to it. His eyes were fixed on a single spot that was the VIP stand, where a certain blond Champion was seated beside Charles Goodshow. He couldn't see her face, but he knew she was watching him, just as she knew he was watching her too.

Ash smiled and tipped his hat slightly.

" _Watch me, World."_

The raven haired trainer shifted his focus on his opponent, who seemed to bask in the cheers of the crowd. _"Unsurprising"_ Ash thought. _"since he thinks he's already won."_

"This is a six on six full pokemon battle! Switching is authorized for both trainers! Now, let us see our battlefield for today!" the commentator paused as the arena started to go down and separated in the middle to allow a simple grassy field to rise. "And it's GRASS! So, folks, are you ready for a super heated battle?!"

The crowd roared louder.

"Now, let us see our competitors' first pokemons!"

Tobias smirked as he took his pokeball and Ash was by now certain of what was coming. And he was prepared for it. As the legendary dark type materialized on the field, so did Heracross, who gazed at his opponent with a serious look in his eyes.

"As always, Tobias has sent his infamous Drakraï! We have all seen by now what a powerful foe it is. How will Ash's Heracross face against it?"

"It has been determined that Ash gets the first move." the referee said before raising his flags. "BEGIN!"

"Hyper Beam!" Ash called.

"Ice Beam!" Tobias countered.

The two attacks collided at the center of the field and, for a moment, it looked like it would result in a draw. Then, the hyper beam overpowered its ice counterpart and hit the pitch black pokemon, who recoiled in pain. Seeing his opponent shocked by this, Ash decided to capitalize on it.

"Follow up with Pin Missile!"

Heracross let out a cry as his horn lit up once more and a myriad of white little missiles spewed from it to hit Drakraï, who cried out in pain at the super effective attack. This seemed to shake Tobias out of his stupor as he instantly retaliated.

"Use Dark Pulse!"

The wave of dark energy streamed out of the legendary's hand, blowing away the Pin Missiles on its course toward Heracross.

"Focus Blast!" Ash countered and Heracross was quick to focus energy on his horn again before blasting it at the incoming attack, resulting in an explosion that covered the field in smoke.

Tobias raised an arm to shield his eyes from the dust and it was already too late for him to react when he saw the horn beetle pokemon burst from the cloud, his horn glowing in a Megahorn attack that sent Darkraï flying away.

Grinding his teeth, the older trainer tried to turn the tables in his favor. "Darkraï, use Dark Void!"

A split second later, the pitch black pokemon threw a dark sphere at his opponent, which then enveloped Heracross and rendered him asleep.

"And Dark Void gets Heracross fast asleep! What's Ash's next move?"

Tobias almost sighed in relief. Darkraï had taken quite a bit of damage but Dream Eater would take care of that shortly. He was back in control of the battle.

"Heracross, Sleep Talk!"

And then he could only widen his eyes in shock as, in a burst of speed, and despite being asleep, Heracross closed the distance once more and landed a devastating Close Combat on his pokemon, launching the legendary across the arena. Tobias could hardly believe his eyes as he saw Darkraï struggling to rise off the ground.

" _How? Even with it being a super effective attack, Darkraï is tougher than that. So why does it look like its on its last rope?!"_ He screamed internally.

"You don't get it, do you?" came the voice of his younger opponent and he turned a questioning gaze on the Pallet native.

Ash chuckled at Tobias' confused expression before he answered the unasked question. "Heracross' special ability is Guts, which makes him more powerful when suffering from a status effect, such as being asleep." he explained. "Basically, I turned your so-called undefeated combination against you by taking advantage of the fact that Heracross would be asleep." he summed up.

"Incredible! It looks like Ash came prepared for his battle against Tobias! To make use of his opponent's strategy against him... truly astounding!" stated the commentator.

Tobias clenched his fist in anger. It seemed he had underestimated Ash too much. A mistake that he would not repeat. "Darkraï, Dream Eater let's go!" he ordered.

The pokemon's eyes glew red as a ghostly image of itself sped toward the still spleeping Heracross.

Ash frowned. It was time to see if his gamble would pay off. "Sleep Talk!"

Heracross suddenly crossed his arms and stood his ground as the Dream Eater made contact with him and drained his energy. When it was over, Heracross was still standing. Barely conscious and still asleep, yes, but still standing.

"Impossible!" came the shout of Tobias as he saw the horn beetle pokemon was still in condition too battle.

Ash grinned as he called out his next move. "Now, Heracross! Snap out of it and use Reversal!"

To everyone but Ash's surprise, Heracross' eyes snapped open before his body glowed red and he charged across the battlefield, hitting Darkraï head on in a tremendous impact. The pitch black pokemon, even though it had restored some of its energy, was still in no shape to dodge.

When the smoke cleared, it was to reveal a knocked out Darkraï and a proud, albeit very tired, Heracross standing over it.

For a second, there was utter silence in the stadium. Then, the referee raised his green flag. "Darkraï is unable to battle! Heracross wins!"

The crowd went wild as the commentator shouted at the top of his lungs in his mike. "AND DARKRAÏ GOES DOWN! Unbelievable! Ash has taken down the invincible until now legendary of this tournament!"

The roar that followed was almost deafening.

* * *

In Pallet Town, outside a certain professor's laboratory, said professor cheered for his surrogate grandson as Delia smiled proudly at the screen and her son's pokemons roared when the referee announced that Darkraï was knocked out. _"You've grown into a splendid trainer, Ash. Just like we knew you would."_ she thought in joy, wiping a few tears.

Watching from a slight distance, Tracey was sketching furiously across a sheet of paper. It wasn't that he didn't hold any interest for his friend's battles, but it was a rare sight to see all of Ash's pokemon huddled together as they watched their trainer battle on a tv screen. It was something that, he thought, deserved to be remembered for both Ash and his pokemons.

" _Besides, I can always watch it on the computer later."_

X

Inside a research center in Sinnoh, Gary Oak stared open-mouthed at the television that had showed his long time rival and friend defeat a legendary pokemon single handily. Around him, his fellow researchers were chatting excitedly over the hows and whys of Heracross' victory over Darkraï.Then, a smile came to his lips. _"You've come a long way since that day when you arrived at my grandfather's lab in pajamas, Ash. Show them what it means to be a Pallet trainer!"_

X

In Cerulean City's Gym, the Three Sensational Sisters watched gob-smacked as the kid their sister had traveled with for two years kicked a legendary pokemon's ass with a common Johto pokemon.

"Hey Misty, isn't that, like, the boy that you were traveling with, like, a few years ago?" Daisy asked, just to make sure.

"Like, he's become really strong." Violet added.

"Yeah, like, totally different from when he came here." Lily chimed in.

Misty ignored her sisters' words as she stared silently at the screen. It was true, Ash had changed a lot since they had parted ways. She knew that he had made a lot of progress during this time, but to see him rise to the semi-final in Sinnoh to face against a legendary -and WIN! This was almost surreal to her.

"Look, girls. Like, it seems the kid has filled out nicely." Daisy said appreciatively

"Like, I wouldn't mind if he was strong, like, that way too." Violet agreed.

"Yeah, like, I mean, look at those arms." Lily nodded.

Misty blinked as what her sisters had said was processed to her brain, and blushed as she suddenly stood up. "What?! How in the hell can you talk about Ash like that?! He's only fifteen, for Arceus' sake!"

As the four sisters started to banter, Misty glanced at the screen from the corner of her eyes and smiled. _"Go, Ash! You can do it!"_

X

Trainers that visited Petalburg City that day were surprised to find the Gym closed for the day for apparently no reason. Usually, the Gym Leader accepted challenges everyday beside the week-end. But today, Norman Maple was at home with his wife, son and daughter watching as May and Max's friend and mentor fought in the semi-final of the Sinnoh League Conference.

To say Ash had honed his skills since their battle was a big understatement. Sure, he would have still recognized Ash's style just from hearing about the battle, but the the level of calm and strategy that the young man on screen had displayed was nothing like what he had faced two years ago.

Across him, May and Max watched in astonishment as their friend fought with seemingly no problem against a legendary pokemon. Sure, that wasn't exactly new since they had saw him fight against Articuno and Brandon's legendary golems, but Ash's pokemons had went through all the pains in the world to bring them down! What had changed since that day?

"So cool..." Max muttered absently and May nodded slowly.

Their friend had become a force to be reckoned with, that was for sure.

X

In the meeting room of the Kanto Battle Frontier, the Frontier Brains, save for two of them, chatted vigorously as they discussed the trainer that had defeated them all and his victory over the legendary Darkraï while Scott laughed loudly.

"Ha-ha-ha! I knew this kid had something that set him apart from the others! Oh, how great it would have been if he had accepted my offer back then! Ha-ha-ha!" he said as he continued to laugh.

Brandon sat with a satisfied smile on his face, arms crossed as he looked at the screen. He had nothing to say, for he already knew what Ash was capable of. _"If there's someone out there that's not an Elite Four, Champion or Frontier Brain that can do it, it's him."_

Anabel sighed softly as she pressed a hand against her chest. Ash had become so strong... even by simply seeing him on tv, she could feel how much he had progressed since their second -and last- battle. He seemed so in tune with his pokemons. _"Maybe the next time we meet, you'll be able to see what's in my heart."_ she thought with a small blush.

Unknown to her, Scott had seen her reaction, which only served to make him laugh louder still.

X

Across the different regions Ash had traveled through, various people that could be considered his rivals in their quests to mastery looked in both awe and slight fear as they witnessed the raven haired trainer defeating a legendary pokemon with just a Heracross.

All of them had the same thought running through their mind. _"I've got to step up my game if I don't want to be left behind."_

X

In Kanto, seated across his desk with his head resting on his fist, Lance watched with a small smile his computer that showed the youngster he had met a few years ago battle against incredible odds, and winning.

Swiftly, the Kanto/Johto Champion took the phone across his desk and dialed a number. "Yes, it's me. Can you contact the Kanto and Johto Elite Four? Tell them I have something interesting to show them. I'll contact them via video conference. Yes. Thank you."

Just as he ended the conversation, he dialed another number. "Steven? Yeah, it's me. Would you mind watching the Sinnoh League retransmission for me? I think you'll find something worth your time. Oh, and pass the information to your Elite Four too, would you? Alright. Yes, see you soon."

Quickly he dialed another. "Hey, Alder. It's LANCE, not Lancer. Do you think you could- What? No, I'm not talking about that! What do you mean there's no other reason I'd call you?! That's not- Urgh... Anyway, just do me a favor and watch the Sinnoh League retransmission, will you? And please pass the message to your Elite Four. Wha- I told you, that's not it! Just... Just do it, ok?! I'll talk to you later." Lance slammed the phone back and pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "That man... I swear... One day, he'll be the death of me."

Shaking his head, he took the phone once more. "Diantha? Yes, it's Lance. Listen, can you take a bit of your time to watch the Sinnoh League retransmission? I'm sure you'll be interested by what I'm seeing right now. Yes, I am certain. And please pass it on to your Elite Four. Right. Until then."

He had only put the phone down that his computer made a bell-like sound, informing him that his Elite Four were all accounted for and, with simple click, started the video conference. "Everyone, thank you for coming on such short notice, but you'll find that I had a very particular reason for us to gather today. Now, if you'll please make it so you can watch the Sinnoh League retransmission, I shall start explaining while we watch. You see, a few years ago..."

X

In the Sinnoh conference stadium's tribunes, Brock smiled proudly as his little brother in all but blood managed to overcome the odds as he always did when the situation truly mattered. He didn't know what exactly had happened the day before, but he had instantly realized, when Ash had showed up this morning for breakfast, that something had changed.

The usual carefree and slightly nervous teenage kid had been replaced by a much more serious young man that exuded an aura of confidence and power.

It was then than Brock knew Ash was going to leave them all in the dust to rise among the very best. He couldn't help but feel a little sad about it, but he knew it was for the best.

" _You've changed a lot since the first time you entered my Gym, Ash. Go, little brother, show them what you're made of!"_

Beside him, Dawn looked in awe at her friend. She had always known that Ash was strong, but this was way above what she was used to see from him. His battle a few days before against Paul had been incredible, but this was something else entirely!

" _Amazing... Is this Ash's true level?"_

Barry griped the edges of his seat tightly. Only now did he really realize how far ahead Ash was compared to him. Hadn't the raven haired trainer told him that each time he went to another region, he started off again? That still meant Ash had been a trainer for several years when Barry had only started his own journey this year.

" _I am so gonna fine you big time for this!"_

Further away, Paul watched with a slight scowl on his face. On one hand, he was pleased that Ash had followed his advice, but on the other he was pissed that the raven haired trainer hadn't fought against him like he was against Tobias. He got the reason why Ash had done so, he really did, but that didn't make the pill easier to swallow.

" _Show me what all those years of traveling across the different regions as a trainer taught you, Ash. Let me see the strength that managed to make Brandon bow to you."_

X

Team Rocket cheered as as the Twerp won the first round.

"Meowth, remind me again. What are the odds?" Jessie asked.

The cat pokemon took out a list and hummed. "Well, there's one to ten for Tobias winning using only Darkraï, so that's good already, nya. Then, there's for the Twerp winning the match."

Jessie and James looked at each other. "How much?" James asked with a huge smile.

Meowth's smile was just as big. " One to fifty." he answered.

The trio cackled evilly, not paying any attention the strange looks that were sent their way. Whatever the Twerp did, they'd win quite a lot of money.

X

Up in the VIP lounge, Cynthia smiled. This was Ash's true strength: the ability to not depend on type advantages or disadvantages and to come up with intelligent , yet often unusual strategies in order to win, even going as far as to turn his opponent's fighting style against them.

Beside her, Goodshow laughed lightly. "Well, would you look at that? The youngster's gone and done it again! It's like he doesn't care about his chances of victory! He'll win, one way or another! Simply brilliant!"

Puzzled, she turned to the older man. "What do you mean, Charles?" she asked.

Goodshow smirked at her. "I've kept a close eye on this young man ever since I've met him before he participated in the Indigo League. He didn't seem like much at first glance, but then he was pitted against one of the favorites in his first match, a trainer by the name of Mandi. Can you guess what happened?"

Cynthia tilted her head slightly. "I assume that he won?"

His grin turned positively feral. "Oh yes, he won, that's for sure. But he did with a SINGLE pokemon. One that, if professor Oak is to be believed, he had never battled with before!" he jovially exclaimed.

The Champion's eyes widened slightly. All she had known was that Ash had placed in the top 16 of the Indigo Plateau conference, but she hadn't read any details on his battles aside from the fact that he was disqualified because his Charizard refused to listen to him.

She glanced back down at the battlefield, where the raven haired trainer was congratulating his pokemon on his victory against Drakraï. "I guess it's just like him to be full of surprises." she replied with a soft smile.

Goodshow simply laughed.

* * *

"You did it, Heracross!" Ash shouted at his pokemon who, despite his injuries, cheered. After all, it wasn't everyday you were victorious over a legendary pokemon.

"Impossible..." Tobias muttered numbly as he returned Darkraï. "How did Heracross managed to withstand Dream Eater? And for that matter, how did he just... wake up like that?"

To him, it was simply baffling.

Ash smirked. "When Heracross used Sleep Talk after Dream Eater, he ended up using Endure, which allowed him to stay conscious after the attack. As for how he woke up, I have only one answer for you: the bond between us is stronger than a simple ability-caused slumber."

The older man stared open-mouthed at the raven haired trainer. "You gambled the whole fight on the chance that your pokemon would use Endure as Sleep Talk?" he asked in disbelief.

Ash simply shrugged. "Either Endure or Protect but I had no doubt Heracross would succeed. I trust him."

Tobias simply shook his head. "To think I would be forced to use my second pokemon because of simple beginner's luck..." he gazed at Ash with haughty look. "This shall not happen again." he said as he took out another pokeball.

Ash made a sound between a scoff and a snort. "Come at me then, I'll show you this wasn't simple luck."

The Eterna native frowned, but didn't rise to the taunt. "Let's go, Latios!"

Ash's jaw nearly dropped as the blue eon pokemon materialized on the field. Sure, he had known there was a good possibility of Tobias having more than one legendary on his team but he had still hoped it wasn't the case.

He looked back at Heracross. Even though Endure had done its job, he knew his pokemon would be out the next attack that would hit him. But even so, he also knew Heracross wouldn't back down until he was well and truly knocked out. And it was Ash's job to make ensure he would deal a maximum of damage before fainting.

"Am I dreaming? No, it seems that Tobias' second pokemon is indeed Latios! To think he had another legendary up his sleeve! Just who IS Tobias?!" the commentator shouted.

"That's something I'd like to know myself..." muttered Ash, eyes focused on the pyschic/dragon type. He definitely was different from Altomare's protector but as far he knew, Latios and Latias were native to Hoenn and had the ability to turn themselves invisible to the naked eye. Which begged the question as to when and where Tobias could have caught one.

He shook his head. He could worry about that later, he had a battle to win.

"Latios Versus Heracross! Begin!"

"Latios, Aerial Ace!" "Protect!"

The green energy shield shimmered into existence just as Latios was about to impact Heracross, leaving the horn beetle pokemon unscathed.

"Now Rest and use Sleep Talk!"

Heracross promptly fell asleep once more, restoring some of its energy, before flying toward Latios in a Megahorn attack.

Tobias smirked. "Two can play at that game, Ash. Use Protect!"

This time, the green shield protected the eon dragon from the super effective attack.

"Now use Giga Impact!"

Ash grimaced. He had no choice. "Sleep Talk!"

Heracross' body glowed the familiar red of Reversal before he charged again, meeting Latios halfway in an earth shaking impact. Once the smoke cleared, it was to reveal, unsurprisingly, an unconscious Heracross and slightly winded and wincing Latios floating above him.

"Heracross is unable to battle! Latios wins!"

Ash smiled sadly as he recalled his fallen pokemon, thanking him for a magnificent job. It seemed that Reversal, while not being a very effective attack due to Latios being part psychic and not used at full power because of rest, had still dealt its share of damage to the eon dragon.

Now, Ash was tempted, oh so very tempted, to send Pidgeot against Latios. He knew, however, that the legendary undoubtedly had a huge pool of ranged attacks and that his friend would be hard pressed in keeping up if the battle turned into a shooting contest. With that in mind, he quickly took out his next pokemon.

"Kingler, I choose you!"

X

Goodshow guffawed as the pincer pokemon appeared. "I'll be damned! That's the pokemon I was talking about! The one who beat three in a row!"

Cynthia simply raised an eyebrow before turning her gaze back on the battle. This should be interesting.

X

Now, while Ash's style was to usually hit fast and hit hard, that wasn't exactly the case with Kingler. The crab pokemon was more of a stationary artillery that drew his foes where he wanted them before finishing them in one strong attack. However, such strategy was little more than useless against flying opponents such as Latios. Which made everyone ask themselves: what was Ash's plan?

Tobias frowned slightly, but waited for the younger trainer to make his move.

"Let's do this, Kingler! Hydro Pump!" In a flash, the pincer pokemon had opened his mouth and blasted a stream of water at Latios.

"Light Screen." came the response from Tobias.

Latios' body became shrouded in a yellow glow as the water crashed against him, making him fly back but dealing little to no damage.

"Now Thunderbolt!" The dragon/spychic type sent a blast of electricity in retaliation.

"Block it with Mud Shot!"

Kingler's pincers slammed into the ground and mud erupted upward, forming a wall that stopped the thunderbolt and dispersed it.

"And Ash displays once more that they are numerous ways of defending against attacks depending on their types! This young man has a knack for strategy, that's for sure!"

"Now Ice Beam!" Ash continued.

A split second later, Kingler's giant pincer opened to let out three blue bolts at Latios.

"Break Through with Giga Impact!" Tobias countered and the legendary cloaked himself in energy before he charged at Kingler, the Ice Beam slowing him down and damaging him slightly, but most of it bouncing off him thanks to Light Screen and the energy of Giga Impact.

Ash smirked slightly. Tobias had reacted just as he thought he would. "Counter Shield!" he called out the name of his original move and Kingler surrounded himself in a rapidly swirling sphere of water and bubbles. A couple seconds later, Latios collided with the shield and Ash could see that while the eon dragon was struggling to break through the rotating barrier, he was still inching closer and closer to Kingler.

He was prepared for it, though.

"Iron Defense!" he shouted.

Again, Kingler crossed his pincers in front of him as his whole body took a metallic color. Moments later, Latios broke through the Counter Shield and rammed into the pincer pokemon. But Kingler, even though he was being slowly pushed back, held his ground.

And Ash seized the opportunity. "Vice Grip! You know what to do!"

Kingler acknowledged the command with a grunt before he swiftly grabbed both of Latios' wings with his pincers and brought the eon dragon to the ground in a mighty swing before jumping on him, just as Paul's Gastrodon had done to Ash's Staraptor a few days prior.

X

In the tribunes, the lavender haired trainer reacted in both surprise and satisfaction at seeing the same tactic he had used against his rival being used by said rival. It seemed Paul wasn't the only one to have taken a page from his opponents' books.

X

Down in the arena, Ash's smirk turn feral. His opponent was now at his mercy. "Great job, Kingler! Now use Ice Crabhammer!"

With a shout of his name, Kingler raised his pincer in the air as a stream of water spiraled around it and then froze, encasing the pincer in ice before he brought it down on Latios.

The super effective attack made the eon dragon cry out in pain as most of the audience looked flabbergasted.

"Did- did Ash just created a new move?" the commentator asked in astonishment.

" _Not quite."_ Ash responded internally. _"I simply took the principle behind Ice Aqua Jet and applied it to another move."_ Which could still be considered a new move, but he didn't really care.

Tobias was simply looking at was happening with his eyes and mouth wide open. He had fallen right into Ash's trap. Again! The raven haired trainer was just too impracticable for him to use normal tactics.

"One more time!" the voice of the younger trainer broke him out of his shock and he cursed himself for loosing his focus as Latios took another Ice Crabhammer to the back.

"You must break free, Latios! Use Thunderbolt!" he shouted, trying to think of a way to escape from Kingler's grasp and reverse the situation.

Ash looked at the older man as if he was mad. Didn't it come to his mind that using an electric type move in this setting would deal damage to both pokemons? Sure, Latios was resistant to electric attacks, but that wasn't the point!

"Iron Defense!" he countered and Kingler's body flashed steel gray, allowing the electricity to pass mostly without hamr into his body back to Latios. Accidentally, that also made him a great deal heavier, trapping Latios under him even more.

"Ice Crabhammer!"

Once more, Kingler slammed his pincer into the legendary, dealing a massive amount of damage.

Tobias was grasping at straws at this point. He had to find a way out of this! "Latios, use Psychic to lift Kingler off you!"

The eon dragon gritted his teeth as his eyes glowed blued and Kingler was enveloped in a glow of the same color before he slowly, but surely, started to being lifted off his foe.

Ash tsk-ed under his breath. He had hoped to end the battle now without having to reveal Kingler's trump card, but there was no way Tobias was going to make Latios come anywhere near Kingler again. It was a shame, but he wouldn't win so easily.

"Hone Claws." he called out and his pokemon duly sharpened his pincers.

Tobias eyed his opponent warily. Why would Ash raise his Kingler's physical attack? Now that Latios was back in the air, and away from the range of another Ice Crabhammer, there was very little he could do to get back in close quarters.

He shook his head. No matter, the match was still going and he had to act.

"Latios, Luster Purge!" A split second later, the eon dragon fired his signature move in a beam of silvery white and purple energy.

"Protect!" Ash countered and the familiar green shield appeared around Kingler, blocking the Luster Purge entirely.

"Use Thunder!" With another cry, Latios shot a powerful bolt of electricity at Kingler, making Ash smirk.

"This again? You should know better by now. Mud Shot!" Once again, the attack splashed harmlessly against a wall of mud before it was dispersed. "Now close in with Agility!"

In a baffling, for everyone except Ash, display of speed, Kingler's legs blurred from view as he skidded across the battlefield, getting under Latios in a matter of seconds before he jumped airborne. "Finish him with Guillotine!"

"Protect!" shouted Tobias desperately and the the legendary barely managed to shield himself from the sure KO attack.

But Ash wasn't done yet. "Bring him down with Slam!"

"Don't let him, Latios! Use Psychic!"

Ash's eyes widened. This could tip the scales into Tobias' favor and there was no way he was going to let that happen. "HYPER BEAM!" he shouted.

"And it seems that this has turned into a battle of attrition! Will Latios be able to hold Kingler with Psychic long enough to escape, or will Kingler manage to break Psychic's hold on him sufficiently in order to fire his attack?!"

Everyone could see both pokemons struggle, holding their breath as they watched for which would prevail.

Then, Latios winced and his control faltered. The injuries from the several Ice Crabhammers taking their toll. The energy keeping Kingler at bay weakened and the pincer pokemon seized the opportunity as, with a loud cry, he opened his left pincer wide and fired the dark purple beam at almost point-blank range, resulting in a blinding explosion that engulfed the battlefield in smoke.

"And Hyper Beam hits! Is this the end for Latios?!"

When the dust settled, Ash could see Kingler slowly getting up, still winded from using the Hyper Beam and slightly hurt from the explosion, but all right.

Latios, on the other hand, was sitting inside a crater and, for a second, Ash feared he had gone too far and seriously wounded the legendary. But the dragon/spychic type, even though he was covered in burn marks and clearly struggling to stay conscious, managed to rise into the air. Ash could only admire and respect the pokemon for his tenacity and willpower, but he also knew he was on his last legs.

"Tobias, please forfeit Latios. I do not wish to hurt him anymore when it's clear he cannot continue." He called out his opponent.

Tobias looked at the younger trainer for a few seconds, before smiling. "You've definitely proved you earned your spot in the semi-final round, Ash. Your concern for my pokemon is appreciated, but unnecessary. Latios, Recover!"

Shock went through Ash as he watched healing energy course over the eon dragon, his wounds disappearing. A couple of seconds later, and Latios cried out, ready to fight once more.

"And Latios is back for more! How will Ash respond to this?!"

The raven haired trainer narrowed his eyes. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve but Recover would make it hard for him to land a finishing blow before Kingler grew exhausted. He could always switch him out, but he'd rather not tip his hand too early.

His best bet was to get back in close range and force Tobias to use Protect before finishing the battle with Guillotine. Problem was, how would he force a close quarters combat? He had already revealed Agility and there was only so much Kingler could do to get close to his opponent. Moreover, Ash couldn't really use the terrain to his advantage... like he usually did...

He blinked as something clicked in his mind and he grinned. "Kingler, Rain Dance let's go!"

Kingler closed his eyes and extended his pincers skyward before executing a little dance that involved snapping his pincers with a few shouts of his name. In a matter of seconds, black clouds gathered around the battlefield and a heavy rain started to fall on both trainers and pokemons.

"And Ash changes the weather! But what is his purpose?!"

Tobias shook his head. "You just made yourself an easier target, Ash. Thunder!"

Latios let out a cry as he fire a bolt of lightning into the clouds, who absorbed it before redirecting it with much more power downward at Kingler.

"Protect!" Ash called out, knowing that his pokemon couldn't block such an amount of electricity with only Mud Shot. The lightning crashed against the shield and Ash decided to go on the offensive. "Now use Surf!"

"WHAT?!" came the shocked cries of the audience, his opponent and the commentator. "This is bad! Raise the platforms!" the later shouted in panic. A split second later, the ground under Ash and Tobias' feet rose half a dozen meters into the air. Not too soon, as a ten meters high wave of water rose up with Kingler on top of it before going straight for Latios.

"Dodge it!" Tobias called and the eon dragon quickly rose above the wave as it crashed down, escaping unharmed. Tobias shielded himself with his arms as water splashed against his platform. When he gazed upon the field again, it was to gasp in surprise at the sight of a pool instead of a grassy battlefield, with the water coming just a couple of feet below him.

Kingler had, of course, disappeared underwater.

"If the battlefield doesn't have anything I can use, then I only have to reshape it to suit my needs."

Tobias raised his head to see Ash looking at him with a smirk. "Before, it was I that had trouble to land a hit on you because Latios had air superiority. Now, I'd say things are evened." the Pallet native continued.

Tobias shook himself mentally before he, too, smirked. "You forget something, Ash. Even if Latios isn't a water type, that doesn't mean he cannot go underwater! Latios!" he replied and the dragon/spychic type dived in the pool.

Ash's smirk widened. "By all means, go ahead, don't let me stop you. Latios might be as fast underwater as he is in the air, but are you sure you want to confront a water type in his element?" Tobias' eyes widened in realization and Ash's smirk turned feral. "Allow me to show you the errors of your ways. Crabhammer, fire!"

The water exploded.

* * *

Crabhammer was, if anything, a very peculiar move.

First was the fact that it could only be learned by only three pokemon evolutionary lines. Even though said pokemons weren't rare by any means, the fact that only them could learn it was enough to put the move on par with other 'signature moves' such a Volt Tackle, Flying Press, Outrage and the likes.

But what made it stand out among those was its versatility. Even though Crabhammer was mainly used as a close quarters attack, it could also be used as medium to long range move on ground or underwater in a shockwave-like attack. It wasn't exactly common knowledge and the pokemon had to have mastered the move to use it correctly that way but there was a lot of instance where it had been used in such a way. Siebold, of the Kalos Elite Four, had a Clawitzer that was said to be capable of creating underwater eruptions on a smaller scale by using Crabhammer.

It seemed Ash's Kingler was capable of such similar feat.

* * *

Tobias stared gob-smacked at the amount of water the underwater Crabhammer had expulsed into the air. Shocked as he was, he couldn't respond in time when his opponent called out his next move.

"Don't let up, Kingler! Use Ice Beam!"

Snapping back into focus, he watched as the pale blue bolts hit his pokemon and decided to act quickly. "Use Luster Purge!"

The eon dragon fired his signature move once more, hitting Kingler head on before Ash could tell his pokemon to dodge and he smirked. This round was over.

"A direct hit from Latios' Luster Purge! Was it enough to put Kingler out of commission?"

To his astonishment and Ash's joy, however, the pincer pokemon was clearly still conscious as he jumped out of the water, and grabbed Latios' wing in a Vice Grip attack before falling back underwater, taking the legendary with him.

"No!" "Yes!" the two trainers shouted simultaneously.

"And it looks like Kingler is still in the game! Latios was caught unaware and is now in a very difficult situation!"

"Get out of here, Latios! Use Thunderbolt!" Tobias called desperately.

"Don't let him get away, Kingler! Use Flail!" Ash ordered.

The water lit up with electricity as the two pokemons continued their struggle underwater. Ash knew that if he didn't do anything, Latios would be the one victorious. "Crabhammer!" he shouted.

"Luster Purge!" Tobias countered.

The electricity died down and an explosion ensued as all watched the surface of the water for any sign of the victor. After a minute, Ash began to fear something unexpected had happened to both pokemons and was of the mind to dive in order to save them, but it seemed his worries were for naught as, finally, they emerged.

Both were unconscious.

"Latios and Kingler are both unable to battle! This round is a draw!" the referee said as he raised both his flags.

"AND IT'S A DRAW!" the commentator yelled as the crow roared. "Both trainers are two pokemons down and Tobias has lost his second legendary to Ash's craftiness in his strategies! What a magnificent battle, ladies and gentlemen! Now please wait a moment as we drain the water out and lower the platforms."

Ash breathed in and out slowly. That had been far too close for his liking. If Kingler had fainted before Latios, Tobias would have used Recover to draw out the next round, and it wasn't something Ash could afford at this point. Recalling his fallen pokemon, he smiled at the pokeball before thanking him for his help.

Tobias silently returned his own pokemon, visibly lost in thought before he looked at his younger counterpart. "I've sorely underestimated you, Ash. But rest assured, I've learned my lesson. You are a worthy opponent and it was rude of me to not give my all in this battle when you are." he said solemnly as he took out another pokeball. "I'll show you I wasn't able to capture both Darkraï and Latios because of a fluke."

Ash's face broke into a excited grin as he also took another pokeball. "Finally decided to get serious? Bring it on! Who's next?" he responded.

Tobias chuckled. "It's time for me to step up my game."

"Trainers, send your next pokemon!"

"Let's go, Raikou!" "Sceptile, I choose you!"

The two pokemons materialized on the field and Ash let out a groan at seeing yet another legendary. "Bugger..." he cursed under his breath. "Is your entire team composed of legendary pokemons or what?!" he shouted at his opponent.

Tobias simply smiled and Ash groaned louder.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." he muttered before shaking his head. "Doesn't matter. Won't be the first time I'll have to fight three legendaries in a single match."

"And Ash sends out Sceptile as Tobias' third pokemon turns out to be the legendary Raikou! Who would have thought the man would hide all those legendaries under his cape!" the commentator said and the audience laughed slightly.

"Raikou Versus Sceptile! Begin!"

"Let's start with Bullet Seed!" Ash called and Sceptile immediately opened his mouth to fire a barrage of high speed yellow seeds at Raikou.

"Dodge and use Thunderbolt!" Tobias countered and the legendary beast jumped into the air before releasing its attack toward Sceptile.

"Evade and close in with Quick Attack!" Sceptile became little more than a trail of light as he dashed across the battlefield before leaping into the air right to collide with Raikou's, who grunted in pain.

"Don't let him get away, Raikou! Thunder Fang!" The thunder pokemon roared as it opened its maw to reveal its fangs sparking with electricity and went to bite Sceptile in the neck.

"Block it with Leaf Blade!" Ash retaliated and the leaves on the forest pokemon's arms extended into green blades of energy before he slashed at his foe and the two attack met each other in a contest of strength. After a few seconds, it became clear that neither would overpower the other and they separated to land back in front of their trainers.

"What an explosive start with those two pokemons clashing fangs against blades! It looks like this round is going to be a lot more close up and personal!"

"Charge Beam, let's go!" "Energy Ball!"

Raikou opened its maw once again to gather electricity before firing it in a massive beam at Sceptile, who formed a green ball of energy between his hands and threw it at the oncoming attack. The clash resulted in an explosion, covering the field in smoke that quickly dissipated.

"Would you look at that, folks! It seems the two are at a standstill as they cannot seem to prevail over the other! It looks it it's up to their trainers to find a way to get the advantage!"

" _Not really."_ Ash thought as he frowned. _"Grass is resistant to electricity. The fact that Sceptile's attacks cannot break through Raikou's speaks for itself."_ And judging by his Tobias' face, it seemed he had reached the same conclusion as the raven haired trainer had.

"Wild Charge." he simply said and Raikou cloaked himself in electricity as he charged at Sceptile.

"Detect." Ash calmly ordered. Sceptile nodded and closed his eyes. Just as Raikou was about to ram into him, the forest pokemon side stepped, dodging the attack by mere inches.

Tobias huffed slightly but continued his assault. "Let's see you dodge this, then. Shockwave!" The thunder pokemon roared slightly as it started to gather electricity.

"Use Dig!" countered the raven haired and Sceptile dived into the ground just as Raikou released the built up electricity at Sceptile. The legendary beast, seeing its opponent had disappeared, looked around, trying to guess where the forest pokemon would resurface.

"Calm Mind and wait for him." Tobias called and Raikou closed its eyes before it seemed to relax.

For a few seconds, silence filled the stadium.

Then Sceptile burst out of the ground right under Raikou in an uppercut that sent it into the air.

"Now use Extrasensory!" Tobias ordered and the thunder pokemon's eyes glowed gold as it gazed down at Sceptile and suddenly a rainbow colored beam errupted from its maw.

"AGILITY!" Ash yelled out in alarm.

The Extrasensory hit, causing a blinding explosion and, for a moment, the Paller native feared he had been too late to made Sceptile evade the attack. However, when the smoke dissipated, there was no trace of the forest pokemon.

"Are my eyes deceiving me? Sceptile seems to have vanished from the battlefield!"

Ash smirked as Tobias blinked in confusion.

"Did he dive back underground?" the commentator continued. "If that's not it, I don't see where he could be!"

Ash's smirk widened as he called his next move. He had no doubt on where his pokemon had escaped. "Solar Beam!"

From the heavens, a beam of white light slammed into Raikou, making the legendary cry out in pain and causing another explosion.

"WHAT?!" came the surprised yell from the commentator and Tobias as both looked upward. "Could it be?! IN THE SUN?!" the former cried out in obvious disbelief as a shadow slowly grew bigger and Sceptile landed safely on the ground.

"UNBELIEVABLE!" the commentator yelled in his mike as the crowd cheered loudly. "Ash's Sceptile managed to avoid the Extrasensory by escaping into the air! Just how fast is this pokemon?!"

"Nice job, Sceptile! I knew you could do it!" the raven haired trainer congratulated his pokemon. Sceptile looked back at him and barked in satisfaction before he winced. It was then Ash saw the burn mark on his friend's flank and he realized that despite his speed, his friend hadn't completely avoided the Extrasensory.

"Your Sceptile is quite an impressive pokemon, Ash."

The Pallet native looked back at his opponent just as Raikou paced back in front of its trainer.

"He's probably one of the fastest non-flying pokemon I have ever seen." Tobias continued. "And to think he's only using Agility..." he shook his head. "I wonder how fast he would be if you would ever manage to teach him Extreme Speed." he added wistfully.

Ash laughed slightly. "Well, speed IS his strongest point, after all." he replied. "But I assure you, we have others tricks up our sleeve than simple speed." he said with a challenging smirk.

Tobias chuckled. "I would hope so. You'll need more than just that to defeat Raikou. Try not to disappoint."

"You ask, we deliver! Earthquake!" Ash called out and Sceptile jumped before slamming his tail into the ground, making the battlefield shake wildly, and Raikou cried out in pain as he stumbled because of the super effective attack.

"Retaliate with Thunder Wave!" Tobias shouted and the legendary beast's tail rose up as it pointed it at Sceptile and released multiple rings of lightning at him.

Ash cursed under his breath. Of course Tobias would try to restrain Sceptile's movements. It was an obvious move but he had hoped the older trainer wouldn't go for it so soon. "Use Protect!"

The green dome materialized around the forest pokemon and the Thunder Wave splashed harmlessly against it.

Then Tobias smirked. "Now you're wide open, Ash! Raikou! Giga Impact, let's go!"

With a mighty roar, Raikou shrouded itself in energy and charged at Sceptile.

"Use Leaf Storm to shield yourself!" the raven haired trainer countered. Sceptile barked and the seeds on his back along with his tail glowed. A few seconds later, the forest pokemon became the center of a true maelstrom of leaves. Moments later, Raikou collided with Sceptile's shield, causing yet another explosion.

When the smoke cleared, it was to reveal that Sceptile was pushing against Raikou with both hands on the legendary beast's shoulders. His Leaf Storm shield had been dispersed by the energy of Giga Impact but it seemed, however, that Raikou's attack had ended before he could truly break through. Moreover, Sceptile's body was covered in a green aura, indicating that Overgrow had activated.

"Alright, Sceptile! Now use Giga Drain!" Ash shouted and Sceptile's tail leaves glowed green before four matching energy beams extended from them to wrap around the legendary beast, draining its energy as it cried out in pain.

"Get out of here, Raikou!" Tobias shouted in alarm but he knew his pokemon wouldn't be able to do so instantly. Giga Impact was a costly move, after all, and it took time for the user to recharge the spent energy.

Giga Drain ended and Ash decided to press his advantage."Let's finish this! Frenzy Plant!"

Sceptile jumped back before his body glowed green and he slammed his hand into the ground, making giant spiked roots erupt from it as they converged on Raikou, hitting the already weakened pokemon violently.

X

Up in the VIP lounge, Cynthia's eyes widened slightly. This was the exact same tactic Paul had used against her Garchomp when he had challenged her. She had noted that Tobias was, like her, quite fond of using Giga Impact to defeat his opponents but whereas she knew Garchomp could endure anything short of an Outrage after using it, the same wasn't true for Raikou. Beside, after seeing Latios' Giga Impact blocked earlier, Tobias should have known better than thinking it would simply connect.

Paul simply shook his head at seeing another of his strategies being used by Ash. Alright, maybe it was what he deserved from taking the Counter Shield idea from the raven haired trainer but it wasn't as if Ash had brevetted it.

Still, he couldn't help the twitch his left eye seemed to have developed.

X

As the dust settled, Ash saw, as he had hoped, that Raikou was on its flank, unconscious.

"Raikou is unable to battle! Sceptile wins!"

The crowd roared as the commentator took over. "I can't believe it, ladies and gentlemen! Tobias has lost three pokemons! THREE! And legendaries at that! Words fail to describe how incredible this battle is! Whoever the victor turns out to be, I can assure you that this match will stay in our memories for a very, very long time!"

"You've done it, Sceptile!" Ash breathed out in relief. It had been risky to gamble on Frenzy Plant. If Raikou hadn't been knocked out by it, Sceptile would've have been defenseless and he was sure Tobias would have seized the chance to eliminate him. Even so, Ash could see that his pokemon was exhausted. While he hadn't received the full blow from either Extrasensory or Giga Impact, the forest pokemon had used powerful moves and even though Giga Drain had restored some of his energy, Frenzy Plant had took almost everything he had left.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this point." Tobias said as he returned Raikou. "Your ability to think on your feet and outside the box is a fearsome thing to face. Coupled with your best pokemon, I'm surprised you haven't won a conference already."

Ash flushed both because of the praise and in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yes, well... let's just say I wasn't as smart a few years ago as I am now and leave it at that, shall we?"

Tobias simply raised an eyebrow at his flustered opponent. "Indeed. No matter, we have a battle to continue." he took out a pokeball. "Let's see how you'll do against this one, then. Let's go, Landorus!"

The pokeball opened and an orange, genie-like pokemon Ash had never seen before materialized on the field with a loud cry. It was strange, with a muscular body, a weird tail and dark pink spots and protrusions all over it, not mentioning the cloud that seemed to form its lower body.

"W-who's that pokemon?!" the commentator voiced the thoughts of probably everyone watching, Ash included. "Is there even any information on- what?" the man paused as a League official spoke to him in hushed tones. "Is this for real? No! Of course I don't doubt them! I just- all right, geez!" he then cleared his throat as he noticed that what he had said had been heard by all the audience. "It has just been confirmed by professor Juniper and Champion Alder of Unova that Tobias' fourth pokemon is Landorus, a legendary hailing from said region and belonging to a trio of pokemons called The Forces of Nature."

Ash had stopped listening at the word "legendary" to stare at Tobias with a deadpan look.

"What's next? Are you hiding Arceus under that cape of yours?" he asked half sarcastically.

The older trainer just shrugged.

"I don't even care anymore..."Ash muttered as he drew a hand across his face before focusing on the battle once more. He'd best return Sceptile for now and let him restore some of his energy.

"Landorus Versus Sceptile! Begin!"

"Sceptile, retur-"

"'Tile!" his friend interrupted him and the raven haired trainer looked at his pokemon in shock.

Sceptile simply looked back with a determined expression.

Ash slowly nodded and lowered his arm. "If that's what you wish then, I won't stop you." he said as he put Sceptile's pokeball back on his belt. "Let's give it our best shot, all right?"

The forest pokemon nodded and tensed himself in preparation.

Seeing that his foes were ready, Tobias made his move. "Landorus, Sandstorm let's go." he ordered and the abundance pokemon raised his arms skyward. Wind slowly picked up and soon enough, the whole field began to be battered by a miniature sandstorm.

"Damn...!" Ash cursed as he shielded his face from the sand. He had seen other pokemons use Sandstorm before, but this was something else entirely! And now they couldn't see their opponent.

"And Tobias shrouds the battlefield in a fierce Sandstorm! What's Ash's next move?"

"Use Bullet Seed!" he called out and Sceptile fired a barrage of yellow projectiles around him but Ash couldn't tell if even one of them had hit their target.

"Earth Power." came Tobias' voice.

"Dodge it!" Ash called just as the ground under Sceptile started to crack and the forest pokemon jumped away as the place where he had been erupted. They had to find a way to locate Landorus!

Suddenly the raven haired trainer's eyes widened. Maybe this could work!"Leaft Storm and spread it out!" he shouted.

Sceptile nodded and closed his eyes as his tail and the seeds on his back glowed and countless leaves shot into the sandstorm. Then, the forest pokemon eye's snapped open and he looked slightly to his right.

Ash grinned. They had found their opponent. "Quick Attack into Leaf Blade!" Sceptile's arm's leaves extended into his trademark green energy blades (though they were much bigger since Overgrow was still active) and he dashed into the storm.

"Stop him! Use Rock Throw!" he heard Tobias shout.

"Cut your way through!" Ash countered and moments later, he was rewarded with a pained roar from the legendary pokemon.

"Grab Sceptile and use Hammer Arm!"

Ash heard his friend give a startled shout and he knew he had to act quickly. He couldn't use Detect and Protect would only stay in place for a little while, which would still leave Sceptile at Landorus' mercy.

"LEAF BLADE! Give it everything you've got!"

He heard Sceptile give a loud cry and a an instant later, an explosion rocked the entire field. The sand storm stopped as the dust settled to reveal Sceptile on the ground unconscious and a bruised Landorus floating over him.

"Sceptile is unable to battle! Landorus wins!"

"And it looks like this is the end of the road for Sceptile! One can only admire the tenacity and persistance of this pokemon! Not only did he defeat Raikou by himself, but he still managed to land some good hits on Landorus!"

Ash couldn't have agreed more as he recalled his fallen pokemon with a smile on his face. Sceptile had simply been incredible. And thanks to him, he now had a rough shape of what Landorus was capable of. His friend's sacrifice would not be in vain.

"Let's take this battle to the skies! Pidgeot, I choose you!"

The bird pokemon materialized on the field with a loud cry before eying Landorus warily.

"Okay, Pidgeot, our opponent is most likely a flying/ground or flying/rock type! He's got a few ranged move but that shouldn't be too much of a problem for you. Are you ready?"

Her answer was a challenging cry as she flared her wings.

"And Ash sends out Pidgeot! This is turning into an aerial battle, folks!"

"Landorus Versus Pidgeot! Begin!"

"Rock Tomb!" "Quick Attack!"

Landorus hadn't even begun to charge his attack that Pidgeot had already crashed into him and flied past, a loud booming sound accompanying the rush of displaced air.

"D-DID PIDGEOT JUST BREAK THE SOUND BARRIER?!" the commentator cried out in disbelief. "I mean- I know they say Pidgeots can fly at speeds equaling Mach Two, but I've never seen it myself!"

"Aerial Ace!" Ash continued and Pidgeot made a U-turn as her body became engulfed in light and she collided with Landorus again, making the abundance pokemon roar in pain.

"Don't falter, Landorus! Use Extrasensory!"

What happened was very different from what Ash expected.

Contrary to the beam of energy Raikou had used earlier, Landorus crossed his arms and gold energy started to form around him and formed into his body, causing him to become surrounded in a golden aura. Then, he opened his arms and three rings of rainbow-colored energy shoot out of his body all around him, forcing Pidgeot to make wild acrobatic moves to dodge them all.

But that wasn't the end of it, the rings retreated to form a moving shield around Landorus.

The raven haired trainer blinked. "That's new." he said before turning to Tobias. "Did you teach him that?"

The Eterna native looked slightly uncomfortable. "Not exactly... Let me just say he didn't know the beam version when I got him." he answered

Ash looked back at the legendary. "Well, that's quite tricky." he replied. _"This thing is gonna be a pain to bypass, I just know it."_ he cursed internally.

"All right, Pidgeot! Let's try an Air Slash!"

Pidgeot's wings glowed light blue and she flaped them, releasing multiple light blue glowing saw disc-shaped energy blades from its wings at her opponent.

"Intercept." Tobias calmly called the Extrasensory rings expended to block all projectiles.

"Quick Attack!" Ash shouted and Pidgeot seized the opportunity to hit her opponent again.

"Sandstorm shield!" countered Tobias and a sand tornado materialized around Landorus, shielding him from Pidgeot and forcing her to retreat in order to avoid the rings of energy.

"And Tobias shows that he can be as good in defense as in offense! How will Ash respond to this?"

Ash groaned. "Okay, how the hell are we supposed to get through that?!" he complained.

"Your problem, Ash, not mine." replied Tobias smugly. "Use Stone Edge while expending Etrasensory!"

Landorus formed white circles of energy which quickly became sharp gray stones.

Then he fired them at Pidgeot while expending the Extrasensory rings.

"Now that's just unfair." Ash deadpanned. "Screw it. Protect!" he shouted and the bird pokemon crossed her wings in front of her. The green shield shimmered into existence around her and blocked all the projectiles.

"Wise move on Ash's part there! I think we all know what would have happened if he hadn't found a way out!"

"Now use Tailwind!" he continued and Pidgeot started to glow softly as she flared her wings.

"I don't know what you're doing, Ash, but that won't work!" Tobias said. "Hammer Arm!"

"Double Team!"Ash's called out in alarm as he watched Landorus charge in with his forearm glowing white.

Pidgeot multiplied herself as she circled around Landorus, who looked at the copies in confusion, not knowing which to hit.

"Extrasensory!" Tobias countered and the rings extended once more, dispelling the after images and one of them hitting Pidgeot, who cried out in pain. "Use Hammer Arm again!" the older trainer continued.

"Feather Dance!" Ash shouted and Pidgeot flapped her wings as they glowed white, throwing multiple feathers at Landorus, who glowed slightly and grunted at feeling his attack power being reduced. "Hurricane!"

The bird pokemon's wings glowed once more as she threw a powerful gust of wind at the legendary pokemon, sending him careening back.

"Rock Throw!" Tobias ordered and Landorus was quick to form big rocks around him that he sent flying at Pidgeot.

"Send them back with Whirlwind!"

Another gust and the rocks went returned to the sender who crossed his arms in front of him and groaned as his own attack was used against him.

"And it's a home run for Team Pidgeot!" said the commentator and laughter ran through the stadium.

"Giga Impact!" the older trainer shouted and Landorus cloaked himself in energy before he charged at Pidgeot.

Ash smirked as he saw that the legendary pokemon had canceled Extrasensory when he had focused his power into Giga Impact. To top it all, Tailwind was still active. It was now or never.

"Agility into Wing Attack!"

Pidgeot disappeared in a sonicboom.

Then, Landorus began to be assaulted from all sides at once and he roared in pain.

"Oh no!" Tobias shouted as he realized his mistake. "Quick, use Extrasensory!" The abundance pokemon swiftly released another set of rings of psychic energy around him.

"Get back and use Roost!" Ash called and Pidgeot ceased her own version of Acrobatics, maneuvering around her opponent's attack to fly back to her trainer. Her body was then surrounded by a white glow as Roost started to restore her energy.

"Don't let her, Landorus! Use Focus Blast!" internally, Tobias was cursing the fact that he had never taught Smack Down to his pokemon. It would have made things much easier!

"Counter it with a concentrated Air Slash!" the raven haired trainer ordered and Pidgeot's right wing glowed brightly before she swung it in front of her and a big blade of air intercepted the Focus Blast, which resulted in an explosion.

"Use Stone Edge with Extrasensory again!" Tobias continued his offensive.

"Protect!" Ash shouted and the green shield blocked both attacks once more.

"Now! Use Giga Impact!"

"Meet him with Brave Bird!"

With a loud roar, Landorus once again cloaked himself in energy and began to charge at the bird pokemon. With a battle cry of her own, Pidgeot soared higher into the sky before she closed her wings and dived down at her foe. Then, a bright blue aura engulfed her as she opened her wings and slammed into Landorus at full force, locking the two in a contest of strength.

"Giga Impact against Brave Bird! Two powerful moves collide! Who shall prevail?!"

Neither pokemon giving in, the two separated to clash again and again, each time trying to overpower the other. An ultimate clash resulted in an explosion that threw both of them apart.

Ash, however, wasn't done yet.

"Now! Use Hyper Beam while he recovers!"

Pidgeot righted herself and opened her beak, a ball of dark purple energy forming in it before she fired the attack straight at Landorus. The beam hit the abundance pokemon, sending him to the ground in a tremendous impact, making dust scatter everywhere.

"A DIRECT HIT!"

Ash breathed out slowly. This should have-

"Outrage."

The raven haired trainer could only widen his eyes as Landorus erupted from the dust cloud, body and eyes surrounded in a red glow, and started to rampage and attack Pidgeot relentlessly. The bird pokemon cried out in pain at the numerous blows that rained on her.

"GET OUT OF HERE, PIDGEOT!" Ash yelled in fear at seeing his friend being on the receiving end of something worse than a Close Combat from Primeape. "Use Feather Dance and make a break for it!"

Pidgeot struggled for a few seconds before she released a wave of feathers at Landorus as a smokescreen and flied away from him. Landorus continued to punch the feathers, too lost in his rampage to notice his target had escaped.

Ash knew that the subterfuge wouldn't work more than a few seconds. Pidgeot looked like she had seen better days, covered in bruises and clearly in bad shape. Roost wouldn't allow her to recover enough to escape Landorus again and he doubted any of her ranged move would have enough power to bring him down. All he could do was make a final gambit. All or nothing.

"Pidgeot." Ash said he looked his friend in the eyes. "Do it."

The bird pokemon seemed to smile and nodded. She looked determinately at her opponent and started to focus, her body glowing softly.

Tobias, mistaking the glow for Roost, went to finish Pidgeot. "Calm down, Landorus! She's over there! Use Hammer Arm!"

Landorus, having located his target again, brought both his knuckles together as he forearms glowed white and he made a beeline for Ash's pokemon.

Pidgeot opened her eyes and she flied straight up.

"Is Ash attempting another Brave Bird attack?" the commentator wondered as he watched Pidgeot continue her ascension.

Then, Pidgeot flared her wings and her form became enveloped in flames, slightly reminding everyone of Moltres. "No, wait! This is-"

"SKY ATTACK!" Ash shouted as Pidgeot dived on Landorus.

The explosion rocked the whole stadium as dust and smoke filled the entire battlefield, forcing even the audience to shield themselves.

When, after close to a minute of waiting, the view became clear again, both Landorus and Pidgeot were on the ground, clearly unconscious.

"Both pokemons are unable to continue! This round is a draw!"

Silence ensued for a moment. Then the crowed cheered loudly as the commentator yelled in his mic. "BOTH POKEMONS ARE DOWN! WHAT IN ARCEUS' NAME IS THIS MATCH?!"

Ash simply recalled Pidgeot, thanking her for a marvelous job but silently cursing that he had underestimated Landorus' endurance. If he hadn't, Pidgeot wouldn't have been defeated.

"Your Pidgeot was magnificent, Ash."

The raven haired trainer gazed at Tobias as he recalled Landorus. "I believe that, had she been a tiny bit faster, she would have been able to use an attack called Boomburst just by flying." he continued.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Boomburst? What's that?"

Tobias smiled. "It's an attack that, usually, only pokemons who can make very, very loud sounds can learn. However, I know from one of my battles that flying pokemons who can travel faster than the sound can, with some effort, learn how to use it by creating a huge sonicboom. Just something to look into when you have some time." he added at seeing Ash's questioning look.

The raven haired trainer simply nodded and took Charizard's pokeball just as Tobias took the one of his next pokemon.

"Both trainers have only two pokemons left, folks! The winner of this round might decide who shall win the match itself!"

"Let's see how you'll handle this, Ash! Hetran, let's go!"

The lava dome pokemon materialized with a booming roar.

"And it seems Tobias' fifth pokemon is the legendary Heatran!"

Ash's eye twitched at seeing another legendary but he didn't react otherwise.

"Charizard! I choose you!"

The fire dragon appeared and gazed at Heatran before releasing an explosive roar, forcing some inside the audience to cover their ears.

"W-what a massive roar from that Charizard! If anything, that pokemon seems really powerful!"

* * *

Inside the Charicfic Valley, Johto, Liza smiled as she looked at her best friend's mate.

In the three years he had spent inside the reserve, Ash's Charizard had become the Alpha of the pokemons that lived there. Constantly challenging the older and more experienced Charizards and then being challenged himself once he took the position of leader had done wonders on his temperament and his skills.

Right now, she doubted any Charizard aside from maybe Lance's could ever hope to defeat him.

Beside her, Charla roared at seeing her mate face against a legendary pokemon. She knew it wasn't the first time he had done so, but she had only been able to watch this one time when he went to save his trainer in Greenfield and even then, the retransmission was pretty bad.

Now, she could see up close how he would fight.

Liza chuckled at her partner's enthusiasm and looked from the corner of her eyes behind her. Sure enough, several Charizards were standing there, watching their leader on screen.

After all, this was a very interesting event to witness.

* * *

"Heatran VS Charizard! Begin!"

""Flamethrower!"" both trainers shouted and the two pokemons breathed streams of fire at each other. The two attacks collided at the center of the field for several seconds, none prevailing over the other.

Then, Charizard roared and intensified his flame, slowly but surely pushing Heatran's attack back until it was completely overpowered and the legendary grunted in pain as he was engulfed in flames. Him being part steel type didn't help.

"Use Rock Tomb!" Tobias called and the lava dome pokemon dispelled the flame before he slammed one of his paw into the ground.

"Take to the skies and use Dragon Breath!" Ash countered. Charizard flared his wings and took off just as four giant rocks surged from the ground and failed to trap him. The fire dragon then exhaled a stream of light blue fire at his opponent.

"Counter it with Flash Canon!"

A split second later, Heatran fired a beam of silvery white energy that broke through the Dragon Breath and headed straight for Charizard.

"Dive and use Flare Blitz!" Ash shouted and Charizard quickly evaded the Flash Canon before his body became engulfed in orange fire and he made a beeline for Heatran.

Tobias grimaced. Speed wasn't Heatran's strong point so dodging wasn't exactly an option, using Iron Head would only make things worse and he hadn't taught him Protect. He had only one way to come out of this without too much damage.

"Meet him with Giga Impact!"

Heatran roared and cloaked himself in energy as he charged before jumping at Charizard and the two collided in a tremendous impact followed by an explosion.

"What power! Those two truly are powerhouses in their own right!"

Charizard rose from the smoke, the flapping of his wings dispersing it, not even wincing from his attack's recoil. Heatran was back on the ground, winded but mostly undamaged.

"Now use Fire Blast!" Ash pressed on and Charizard spat another intense stream of flames that took the shape of the 大 kanji before it slammed into the legendary, making him roar in pain.

Tobias' grimace deepened as he shielded himself from the heat. He had known Ash would capitalize on the time it would take for Heatran to recharge.

All things considered, this round was going badly for him. Charizard might be able overpower any fire attack thrown his way and Heatran was at a disadvantage in close range. He had to do this smartly or else his pokemon would easily be defeated.

"Use Ancient Power!" he ordered.

Heatran roared and floating boulders appeared around him before they were hurled at Charizard.

"Send them back with Dragon Tail!" Ash countered.

The fire dragon's tail glowed light blue before he hit the Ancient Power back at its sender, making Heatran cringe.

"Damn! Use Stone Edge!" Tobias shouted. This time, rings of rocks materialized around the lava dome pokemon who sent them at Charizard once more.

"Dragon Pulse!" the raven haired trainer called and Charizard fired a dragon shaped multicolored beam of energy at his foe, destroying the Stone Edge and hitting Heatran once more.

Tobias knew Heatran had no chance of winning at this point, so he called for a final attack.

"Use Magma Storm! Full Power!"

With a battle roar, the lava dome pokemon fired an enormous spiral of flame at his opponent.

"Break through with Flare Blitz!"

Charizard once more cloaked himself in flames and dived at Heatran, meeting the Magma Storm halfway. Slowly, the fire dragon pushed his way through the attack, until he was close to the legendary pokemon.

Close enough to be in arm's range, that is.

"Now grab him and use Seismic Toss!"

Charizard stopped his Flare Blitz and grabbed Heatran behind the head, startling him, before he took off with a roar, taking the legendary with him.

"No! You must get away, Heatran! Use Fire Fang!"

The lava dome pokemon opened his flaming maw to bite Charizard on the shoulder, who winced but still didn't let go.

"Do it, Charizard!" Ash shouted.

The fire dragon began to spin around, going faster and faster, before he zoomed back down and tossed his opponent into the ground, using the momentum of the dive.

When the dust cleared, it revealed Hetran laying in a crater, unconscious.

"Heatran is unable to battle! Charizard wins!"

Charizard roared in victory as the crowd cheered louder than ever.

* * *

In Kanto, Lance stared, mouth slightly agape, at Ash's Charizard.

"Such power..." he muttered absently, eyes gleaming.

His words, however, were still heard by the Elite Four of both the regions under his control.

"Oh boy... Here he goes again." Karen deadpanned.

"Sometimes he's just a big kid at heart." Agatha agreed, shaking her head.

"Why is it the same thing Every. Single. Time?" Lorelei added, palming her face. "I know he's a dragon specialist, but still..."

"But you have to admit, that Charizard is really powerful. Defeating a legendary so easily..." Bruno trailed off.

Koga nodded. "He must have trained for quite a long time."

Will putted a hand on his chin, looking thoughtful. "What amazes me is the level of synergy between the trainer and the pokemon. Didn't you say his Charizard refused to obey him at some point?"

It would take Lance close to a minute for him to register what his Elites had said and to get back into the conversation.

* * *

"HE'S DOWN! Heatran is down, ladies and gentlemen! Tobias has only one pokemon left and Charizard has taken little to no damage during that short, yet brutal, round! Will the Eterna native be able to make a comeback?!" the commentator shouted as Tobias recalled his pokemon.

Ash now had a confident smile on his face. Charizard was still at almost full strength and nothing short of Groudon or one of the major legendaries would be able to match him. Victory was in his grasp!

"Great job, Charizard! Now there is only one left!" he cheered.

"That may be so, but do not think it will be easy, Ash." came Tobias' voice.

Gazing at his opponent, Ash frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked before faking a gasp. "Could it be?! Do you REALLY have Arceus under that cape?!"

The older trainer blinked before he laughed. "No. No, I don't. Though I would have enjoyed the look on your face if I did."

"I think I would have had a heart attack." the Pallet native responded.

Tobias chuckled once more before his face turned serious again. "Perhaps. But you must know something, Ash." he said as he took his last pokeball. "None of the pokemons you've fought those far was my strongest."

Ash paled slightly. He just had to jinx himself, did he?

"Now, come out! Deoxys!"

In the silence that ensued, the DNA pokemon materialized with a soft sound that was familiar to Ash. He had, after all, met two Deoxys during his stay in LaRousse city and that debacle with Rayquaza. And that made him even more aware that his chances of victory had gone from very high to slim, if this one was just as powerful as its counterparts.

He had faith in Charizard's abilities and he still had Pikachu as his last pokemon, but he knew that Deoxys would be a really tough opponent, thanks to its ability to change forms to suit his needs.

"And Tobias' final pokemon is Deoxys! To think he kept that ace up his sleeve all this time... how does this bode for Ash?"

"Deoxys Versus Charizard! Begin!"

"All right, Charizard! Let's start things with Flamethrower!"

The fire dragon roared challengingly and exhaled a stream of flames at Deoxys.

"Defense form." Tobias simply said.

Deoxys took a more bulky appearance, his arms becoming plate like appendages, and crossed them in front of itself as the Flamethrower hit. When the attack subsided, the DNA pokemon looked as if nothing had happened.

"Speed form and use Zen Headbutt." the older trainer continued.

Deoxys changed this time into a slender form that clearly looked aerodynamic and its forehead glowed blue before he charged at blinding speed and rammed into Charizard's stomach, knocking him down as the dragon growled in pain.

"Charizard!" Ash called out in alarm, surprised at Deoxys' speed. "He's too fast for you right now! So you must hit everywhere at once! Use Heat Wave!"

Charizard grunted in acknowledgment and a red-orange ball appeared in his mouth which then released a wind of flames at his opponent.

Tobias tsk-ed, that was a nice move on Ash's part. "Defense form!" he ordered and Deoxys changed shape once more to shield itself from the attack.

"Now!" Ash shouted. "Close in and use Wing Attack!" even though he knew this would inflict little damage, he needed Charizard to at least get in close.

Charizard stopped Heat Wave as he charged at Deoxys, wings glowing white, and hit the DNA pokemon head on, who still held its ground despite being slightly pushed back.

"Follow up with Megaton Punch!" He needed to break Deoxys' guard!

Charizard's first became encased in yellow energy as he reared it back.

"It's useless, Ash. Iron Defense!" Tobias countered and Deoxys glew steel gray as the Megaton Punch impacted its arms, causing a shockwave and making it tremble slightly.

"Now use Teleport to get behind Charizard!" Deoxys blinked out to reappear behind its opponent. "Normal form and use Thunderbolt!"

The DNA pokemon changed back to its original form before it fired a bolt of electricity at Charizard from its jewel, impacting him in the back.

The fire dragon roared in pain at the super-effective attack and Ash knew he had to do something or his friend would loose. He would have used Smokescreen to try and get an edge, but he was pretty sure Charizard would never accept to resort to such cheap tricks.

"We've got to find a way..." the raven haired trainer muttered. "Use Dragon Breath!"

Charizard righted himself and turned around to breath a stream of blue flames at Deoxys.

"Dodge it and use Zen Headbutt!"

The legendary pokemon dived bellow the attack before its forehead glowed blue again and it charged at Charizard.

"Meet it with Flare Blitz!" Ash called and the fire dragon cloaked himself in flames before he met Deoxys halfway through the air in a tremendous impact, resulting in an explosion that sent both pokemons stumbling through the air.

"Time to get serious." Tobias said. "Attack form and use Psycho Boost!"

Deoxys' form sharpened and it brought its four tentacles in front of it to form a glowing ball of energy forming them that he threw at Charizard.

"OVERHEAT!" Ash shouted.

Charizard roared as his body glowed red and he then released a white-hot fire with a red-orange flame spiraling around it from his mouth that collided with Psycho Boost.

"I don't even get the time to place even one comment! Psycho Boost against Overheat! Who shall prevail?!"

For a moment, it seemed like the two attacks would even out. Then, Tobias psuhed things even further.

"Hyper Beam."

The dark purple beam erupted from Deoxys' jewel and came to reinforce the Psycho Boost, breaking through the Overheat before slamming into Charizard, who roared in pain.

"Charizard! No!"

"That Psycho Boot-Hyper Beam combo hits Charizard head on! Is this the end for the fire dragon?!"

The explosion had made it impossible for Ash to see what had become of his pokemon and he began to worry that his friend had took too much damage.

Then, from the cloud of smoke a massive stream of fire emerged, engulfing Deoxys in a sea of flames before it could even react.

"WHAT THE-"

With an earth-shaking roar, Charizard erupted from the smoke in a powerful Blaze-powered Flare Blitz attack to ram into Deoxys.

"HE WITHSTOOD IT! CHARIZARD ENDURED THAT MASSIVE ATTACK AND JUST HIT DEOXYS WITH A POWERFUL INFERNO FOLLOWED BY A FLARE BLITZ! AND IT SEEMS BLAZE HAS ACTIVATED!"

"YEAH! Alright, Charizard! Now use Dragon Tail to send Deoxys into the ground!" Ash shouted.

The fire dragon stopped his attack and quickly spun forward to slam his blue glowing tail onto Deoxys, sending the DNA pokemon crashing down to earth.

"Use Fire Blast!" the raven haired pressed on and Charizard spat a gigantic 大shaped flame that hit the downed Deoxys in another explosion.

"A DEVASTATING COMBO FROM ASH AND CHARIZARD! WAS IT ENOUGH?!"

Charizard landed back in front of his trainer, surveying the battlefield for any sign of his opponent. The dust finally settled on a slowly standing up Deoxys from the crater it had created.

"Recover." Tobias called.

Green healing energy course through the legendary pokemon before it rose up and locked eyes with Charizard.

"And Deoxys is back for more!"

Ash bit his lower lip. Even though Blaze had activated and they had managed to inflict a massive amount of damage on Deoxys, Recover had just healed at least half that. And now, Charizard was clearly tired. He still had enough power for one, maybe two good attacks and that was if he didn't take any damage in the process.

But he knew his friend would fight until the end. Retreat was not an option for him and Ash knew that.

"This is it, Charizard." he said and the dragon nodded.

Tobias looked at his younger counterpart. "I shall meet that resolve of yours head on, Ash. Are you prepared? Psycho Boost!"

Deoxys' tentacle created another sphere of energy between them.

"BLAST BURN!" Ash shouted.

Charizard roared as he became engulfed in flames.

The DNA pokemon launched its attack just and the fire dragon slammed his fist into the ground. Moments later, Psycho Boost collided with Charizard just as the ground under Deoxys erupted in a giant fiery explosion.

"And it's a direct hit from both sides! What is the result?!"

When the dust and smoke cleared, it was to reveal both pokemons still standing, although they both looked worse for wear. It seemed, however, that Deoxys had managed to change into its Defense form just before Blast Burn hit it.

The two combatants looked at each other for a few seconds. Then, Charizard grunted as he winced and slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Charizard is unable to battle! Deoxys wins!"

"AND CHARIZARD FALLS! He put up one hell of a fight, though! Truly an impressive pokemon! Give one round of applause for Ash's Charizard!" the commentator shouted as the crowd clapped loudly.

Ash smiled as he recalled Charizard. He had surpassed all of his expectations. "You've become very strong, Charizard. Take a good rest." he said gently to the pokeball.

The raven haired trainer then turned to Pikachu, who had stayed silent during the whole match so far at his side.

"Are you ready, buddy? It's up to you now."

Pikachu gave his friend and trainer a thumbs up. He would make sure to finish the job.

Ash grinned. "Alright! Let's do this, Pikachu!"

With a loud "Pika!", the electric mouse ran into the field, stopping a few paces in front of his trainer as he gazed at Deoxys.

"And Ash's final pokemon is Pikachu! While not as impressive as Ash's previous pokemons, he is not to be underestimated! This mouse packs a punch, let me tell you! Now, this battle is nearing its end, folks! Who shall emerge victorious? Will it be Tobias? Or will it be Ash? We shall know soon enough!"

Tobias looked at his opponent's pokemon. "So he's your starter, correct?" he asked.

Ash nodded. "Yeah. He and I have been together since the day professor Oak gave him to me." he smiled at his companion before smirking at Tobias. "And you can be sure that we're gonna win."

The older trainer smiled back. "I won't make things easy for you. Deoxys might not have much power left, but it's more than enough to deal with Pikachu."

Nothing more was said as they simply focused on each other, waiting for the referee's signal.

"Deoxys Versus Pikachu! Begin!"

 _ **Oooooh**_

 _ **I'm unbeatable!**_

"Ice Beam!" "Thunderbolt!"

Ice and electricity collided at the center of the field and the two attacks pushed against each other for a moment before they evened out.

Tobias' brows furrowed. Ice Beam should have broken through Thunderbolt. A Pikachu, no matter how powerful it was, shouldn't have been able to negate a legendary's pokemon attack just like that. Was this another trick of Ash's?

 _ **Walking down this endless**_

 _ **hallway,**_

 _ **With nothing but**_

 _ **my friends beside me,**_

"Quick Attack!"

Pikachu dashed across the field and collided with Deoxys, sending it stumbling back.

"Drain Punch, let's go!" Tobias ordered.

"Counter it with Iron Tail!"

Deoxys' fist became encased in green energy as it swung it at Pikachu, whose tail glowed silvery white as he jumped and spun to slam it into Deoxys' attack.

 _ **We'll never give in,**_

 _ **We'll never rest,**_

 _ **Advanced Battle is the**_

 _ **ultimate test!**_

The two pokemons separated to jump back, uninjured.

"Shadow Ball!"

"Electro Ball!"

The two spheres collided mid-air in and pushed against each other as Ash called his next move.

"Use Thundebolt!"

With a cry, Pikachu sent a stream of electricity that hit the Electro Ball, making it bigger and more powerful before it broke through the shadow ball and slammed into Deoxys.

 _ **From the earth, the**_

 _ **land, the sea, and**_

 _ **sky,**_

 _ **They can never win**_

 _ **but they sure can**_

 _ **try!**_

"Use Zen Headbutt!" Tobias shouted and Deoxys' forehead glowed blued as he charged at Pikachu.

"Volt Tackle, let's go!" Ash countered and Pikachu cloaked himself in electricity as he too charged at his opponent and the two met in a clash of strength.

"Pikachu! Jump on Deoxys' back!" The electric mouse canceled his attack to grab Deoxys' head and jumped on its back. "Now use Thunderbolt!"

With a loud "PikaaaCHUUU!" both Ash's pokemon and Deoxys' forms lit up with electricity.

 _ **Oooooh,**_

 _ **I'm unbeatable!**_

 _ **Pokemon!**_

 _ **Oooooh,**_

 _ **I'm undefeatable!**_

"You must shake him off, Deoxys! Come on!"

The DNA pokemon started to fly and trash around, trying to make Pikachu fall off but the electric mouse held fast.

"One more time! Thunderbolt!" Again, electricity lit up the two.

"Light Screen!" Tobias shouted and yellow energy covered Deoxys like a second skin.

 _ **From the stars, and**_

 _ **the ancient past,**_

 _ **They come to play**_

 _ **but they'll never**_

 _ **last!**_

"Get off Deoxys and use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu let go of his opponent before he spun once more and his tail smashed into his opponent, sending the legendary crashing to the ground.

"WOW! That Iron Tail sure was powerful!"

"Focus Blast!" Tobias ordered.

From its crater, Deoxys brought its hands in front of it and a yellow orb of energy formed between them before it hurled it at Pikachu.

"Electro Ball and keep it up!" Ash shouted and Pikachu jumped into the air before he sent three spheres of electricity at the Focus Blast in quick succession, resulting in an explosion.

 _ **Oooooh,**_

 _ **I'm unbeatable!**_

 _ **Pokemon!**_

 _ **Oooooh,**_

 _ **I'm undefeatable!**_

"Thunder!" the raven haired trainer pressed on and Pikachu fired a massive bolt of electricity down at Deoxys.

"Mirror Coat!"

Deoxys became enveloped in a white reflective glow just as the Thunder hit it. Then, a twice bigger bolt erupted from Deoxys' jewel to hit Pikachu, who cried out in pain.

 _ **You think you'll win**_

 _ **but soon you'll see,**_

 _ **You may beat some**_

 _ **but you can't beat**_

 _ **me!**_

"We're not done yet! Use Iron Tail with Electro Ball!"

Pikachu formed an Electro Ball on his tail, and then used Iron Tail to slam both the Electro Ball and Iron Tail into Deoxys at the same time.

"Defense form!" Tobias shouted and Deoxys winced as it crossed its arms and tried to shape shift, but only managed to change its arms into their plate-like form as the attack hit, still dealing a notable amount of damage.

 _ **There's a feeling deep**_

 _ **inside me.**_

 _ **And it's always there**_

 _ **to guide me.**_

"Take to the air and use Recover!" The Eterna native called.

The DNA pokemon managed to escape Pikachu, who tried to grab it once more, and flied away before trying to restore its energy.

"I won't let you!" Ash shouted. "Discharge!"

Pikachu let out a loud cry as he released bolts of electricity everywhere, forcing Deoxys to interrupt Recovery in order to dodge.

 _ **It's in my heart and in**_

 _ **my soul**_

 _ **Leading me to the ultimate**_

 _ **goal!**_

"Quick attack into Thunder Punch!" Ash pressed, not wanting to let Deoxys enough time to use Recover more.

Pikachu dashed once again across the battlefield before he jumped into the air, one of his front paws encased in electricity.

"Use Wrap to grab Pikachu!" Tobias countered and one of Deoxys' arms reverted into two tentacles to wrap around the electric mouse before he could land his attack. "Now use Drain Punch!" Its other fist became encased in green energy at it reared it back.

"Pikachu, use Spark, quickly!" the Pallet native shouted.

Pikachu's body lit up with electricity that traveled through Deoxys' body, making it let go of his opponent before it could land Drain Punch. After Pikachu landed, he looked at Deoxys, whose framed was twitching as little arcs of electricity danced on it.

"And it looks like Ash lucked out there as Deoxys seems to have been paralyzed!"

 _ **You can try your**_

 _ **best this might be**_

 _ **fun,**_

 _ **You go down to**_

 _ **defeat before you**_

 _ **begun!**_

"Alright! Now use Thunder!" Ash called.

With another loud cry, Pikachu sent a massive bolt of electricity into the air, creating a cloud of electricity that fired several bolts at Deoxys, hitting it as the paralysis prevented it from moving.

"Use Psycho Shift to get rid of the paralysis!"

Purple energy coursed through Deoxys and the arcs of lightning disappeared.

 _ **Oooooh**_

 _ **I'm unbeatable**_

 _ **Pokemon!**_

 _ **Oooooh**_

 _ **I'm undefeatable!**_

"Zen Headbutt, let's go!" The Eterna native called and Deoxys charged at Pikachu.

"Quick Attack into Iron Tail!" Ash countered.

Pikachu quickly dashed forward before jumping as his tail glowed silvery white once more and he slammed it against Deoxys' forehead. For a couple of seconds, the two struggled against each other, but then Deoxys shifted to its Attack form and broke overpowered Pikachu.

The electric mouse cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, bruised but still able to fight.

 _ **Every move, each**_

 _ **attack you choose,**_

"Let's finish this Ash! Deoxys! Use Psycho Boost!" Tobias shouted and Deoxys once again charged its signature move.

"And we'll meet you head on! Pikachu! Volt Tackle!" Ash responded.

Pikachu ran across the field and became encased in electricity as he accelerated toward Deoxys.

The DNA Pokemon launched its attack just as Pikachu jumped into the air, colliding with Psycho Boost just a couple of feet from Deoxys.

 _ **You think you**_

 _ **can win but you'll**_

 _ **always loose!**_

"AND IT'S A CLASH BETWEEN VOLT TACKLE AND PSYCHO BOOST! THIS LOOKS LIKE THE ONE WHO'LL PREVAIL WILL BE THE WINNER!"

Tobias silently agreed with the commentator. Deoxys simply had no energy left after that final attack, or else he would have called for a Hyper Beam just like he did against Charizard.

Ash clenched his fist as he watched Pikachu struggle against the attack. This was it! They had to break through! "THUNDER PUNCH!"

 _ **Oooooooooh!**_

 _ **Advanced Battle.**_

With a loud "PIKA!", Pikachu focused all his remaining power into his front paw and pushed. In a burst of energy, the Psycho Boost disappeared and Pikachu punched Deoxys in its jewel with a giant fist of electricity before flying past it.

 _ **I'm unbeatable!**_

 _ **Pokemon!**_

Deoxys fell to the ground, unmoving, as Pikachu landed a few paces behind it, exhausted and breathing heavily before he turned back to his fallen opponent.

For a few seconds, there was silence. As if everyone was holding their breath, waiting for the announce of the result. Even the referee seemed to be lost in thought.

Tobias sighed softly as he grabbed the man's attention, and nodded.

The referee blinked, as if returning to reality and raised his green flag.

"Deoxys is unable to battle! As Tobias has no pokemon left, the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

The stadium exploded with noise.

* * *

Anyone passing in a two mile distance of Oak's range at that moment would have been startled by the huge cheering roar that came from all of Ash's pokemon.

Delia had her hands clapped on her mouth as tears of joy went down her cheeks. Right beside her, Samuel Oak was dancing with Mimey as he laughed at Ash's victory.

Around them, Ash's pokemons were discussing furiously in their own language while sometimes pointing at the screen as Tracey went into a sketching frenzy.

X

Gary smiled. Ash had done it. He had finally managed to climb his way up to the finals of a region League. And after such a performance today, there was no doubt in the young Oak's mind that his childhood friend and rival would become the champion.

For a time, he had wondered if Ash might have been better off quitting his goal of becoming a pokemon master. That he might find his call in being an instructor (he had done wonders on May and Dawn), a ranger (due to his love of pokemons in general) or (if what he had heard was true) a Frontier Brain.

But it seemed he hadn't needed to worry. Being a trainer was Ash's life, and becoming a Pokemon Master was his goal. All he had needed had been someone to push him in the right direction.

Now... if only Gary could find out who had said what... He was pretty sure he could tease Ash endlessly.

He'll call Dawn at some point. That girl seemed to know everything that happened around Ash.

X

Misty and her "Sensational" sisters had stopped their arguing at some point to simply watch the battle in silence. To say they had been impressed was an understatement. First this guy shows up with a whole team of legendary pokemons, and then Ash wins? Sure, Misty had somewhat expected her friend to pull it off, somehow, but she wouldn't have bet on it.

"Well, the kid knows, like, how to put on a show." Daisy said.

"Like, do you think he would perform with us?" Violet asked.

"Hmm... now that's, like, a good idea." Lily agreed as she licked her lips.

"NOW JUST WAIT A MINUTE!" Misty screamed.

The four sisters started to argue once more about the raven haired trainer on screen. It would take them hours to finally agree on one point: Ash had changed, and for the better.

X

In the Maple house, Max kept jumping around the living room, shoutin "Ash won!" over and over again as Caroline vainly tried to calm her son down. But the boy couldn't be deterred. Ash had won! He had won against probably the toughest trainer out there aside from the Elite Four and the Champions! How could he just sit down like it was nothing?!

May, on the other hand, was still rooted to her seat. She would have probably laughed at the childish display of her brother if her thoughts hadn't been elsewhere.

Her fists clenched slightly. She was both happy and sad that Ash had won. On one hand, he was a huge step closer to achieve his goal, but that meant he was going to stand on a whole other level than the rest of his friends.

She felt a hand land on her shoulder and looked up to see her father smiling gently.

"Don't worry, May. I'm sure that Ash will not forget you or the others that have been alongside him all this time." he said, looking at the screen for a moment.

She smiled at him and nodded before focusing back on the screen.

Norman glanced at his daughter from the corner of his eye. For all the confidence she was capable of displaying in a pokemon contest, she was still quite insecure on some other levels, mostly when it came to her friends and, more particularly, Ash. He was a bit sad that she looked up to the raven haired trainer more than she did to him, but he supposed that was to be expected since Ash had taught her a good majority of everything she knew about pokemons.

He looked back at the screen, where the young man was hugging his Pikachu, and smiled.

Everything would be alright.

X

Scott had tried his hardest not to laugh. He really had. But he just hadn't been able to hold it when all the Kanto Frontier Brains had turned to him and said "Why in Arceus' name did you let him refuse your offer?!"

He had fallen off his chair laughing after that.

Brandon shook his head, smiling as he looked back at the screen.

" _You did it, kid. I look forward to what your next accomplishment shall be. Do not disappoint."_

Anabel said nothing, her eyes glued to the the image of Ash. For some reason, she felt very warm.

"Ara. Is our little Anabel having naughty thoughts about her crush?" came Lucy's voice from right beside her ear.

Unfortunately for the Salon Maiden, her embarrassed squeak cause the whole room to shift their attention to her. What followed was a session of teasing and heavy blushing she didn't want to remember.

X

In the other regions, Ash's rival stared silently at their tv and computers.

Then, as if connected by some invisible force that reached across the globe, they stood up, grabbed their pokeballs and went out.

" _Back to training."_ was the single thought inside their mind.

X

"And that, everyone, is why I want to make Ash Ketchum part of the G-men and offer him an official League apprenticeship." Lance concluded. "Any objections?"

"He's till very young." Agatha commented before shrugging. "But I don't mind. The kid has proved both now and back when I fought him that he had a good head on his shoulders and a good heart."

Bruno nodded. "His strength isn't negligible. He will become stronger still in the future."

"The fact is that he has stopped several criminal organizations during his travels. Like you said, he has a knack for ending up in trouble." Koga added. "Him being part of the G-men would allow us to make a more effective and faster response to threats that would arise."

"I don't particularly care." Karen said nonchalantly. "I'll give you my opinion after I evaluate him personally."

"Ash has changed a lot since we've last seen him, Lance. Though I know he can be quite mature if the situation calls for it, I'm not sure if he's ready to accept such important obligations." Lorelei said. "I'll want to be there when you ask him."

Lance nodded. He knew better than to argue with the Ice Mistress.

Right then, his phone received multiple simultaneous calls and he had to excuse himself to answer the questions of his fellow Champions.

He had a feeling that he would spend little time sleeping tonight.

X

Brock clapped along with the rest of the audience. In all the years he had spent accompanying Ash, he had seen his friend battle so many times. There were moments were he had been stumped by Ash's ingenuity, and others where had had wanted to facepalm so hard it had been necessary for him to chant "Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, I love you" internally for several seconds to restrain himself.

But today... today he had witnessed what would become, perhaps, Ash's most impressive battle in his entire trainer career.

And it had happened this way only thanks to the words of someone outside their circle of friends. Oh, the irony.

Dawn was clapping too. She knew how big of a deal this was for Ash, even though she hadn't known him for long. This battle had been so difficult and had looked so stressful from here! She couldn't even imagine what her friend's state of mind was right now but she was glad Ash's conversations with both Paul and Cynthia had helped him.

Though she had felt a bit guilty for eavesdropping on them.

"YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!" Barry shouted. "That's how you do it, Ash! If you had lost, I've would have fined you so much you would've been broke!"

He didn't pay any mind to the people around that gave him looks as if to say "is he on a sugar high?"

Paul stood up and left. He had seen what he had come to see. This battle and the one he and Ash fought against each other had shown him that different training methods yielded different results. If the strength that Ash had displayed today was a testament of this, then he had work to do.

He would have denied anyone that passed by him on his way out that he had a small smile on his face.

X

Team Rocket whooped as their favorite Twerp was announced the winner. They had just made a huge amount of money.

"Did you get it all, Meowth?" James asked.

The cat pokemon nodded as he pushed a button on the side of his vendor trail. "All of it, nya."

Jessie cackled in glee as she rubbed her hands together. "These are going to be sold like hotcakes. Now let's go and collect our winnings."

"Wooobbuffet!"

X

Up in the VIP lounge, Goodshow clapped merrily at the display of skill he had just saw. He had been right to keep a look out for the young Ketchum. The boy was a legend in the making!

Beside him, Cynthia smiled brightly. Ash had shown skill and ability beyond what she had expected of him and she knew that his true potential had been on display for all to see today. He was still a bit raw, but his years of traveling, training and battling had honed him to quite the level already. She esteemed him to be on par with any of the Elite Four, based on what she had seen. All he needed was someone to push him in the right direction and he would be Champion material in no time.

She stood up. She had a friend to visit.

* * *

"AND THAT'S IT! WITH A SUPERB... uuuh... A SUPERB VOLT SHOCK FIST, PIKACHU BROKE THROUGH PSYCHO BOOST AND KNOCKED DEOXYS OUT! Ash has defeated Tobias and will be moving on to the finals!"

"You did it, Pikachu!" Ash shouted, his surprise letting place to joy.

"Pika!" his partner responded and jumped into his awaiting arms as the two of them laughed in joy.

"Ash."

The duo ceased their laughing and turned to find Tobias standing a couple paces beside them.

"Tobias." the raven haired trainer greeted.

"That was a magnificent battle." the Eterna native said as he nodded to his opponent. "I thank you. You made me realize that even though I'm strong, there is still someone better than me out there." He closed his eyes. "I became overconfident and payed for it dearly." he gazed back at Ash with a determined look, smiling. "Next time, it will not happen."

Ash smiled back. "I learned a lot in today's battle, so thank you too. And I'll be waiting."

"I have one question, however." Tobias said suddenly

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

The older man looked at Pikachu, perched on Ash's shoulder. "How did your Pikachu get so strong? His power far exceeds that of some of the strongest electric pokemons I've seen and yet he's, well, only a Pikachu. Technically, it shouldn't be possible."

Both pokemon and trainer looked at each other before they shrugged in unison. "I don't know. Pikachu has always been strong. I can think of a few instances that might have boosted his power but other than that..."

Tobias frowned slightly as he looked intensely at the electric mouse. "Tell me, Ash. Does Pikachu often suffers of cases of 'electric flu'?"

Ash's eyes widened slightly. "Yeah, that happened a few times. Why?"

Tobias' face lighted up in recognition. "So that's how it is." he said as he seemed to ponder something before he nodded to himself. "Come and see me at the pokemon center tonight, when you have the time. I'll explain everything then."

Ash blinked, puzzled, but nodded nonetheless.

The two trainers shook hands before they parted ways for their side's locker room.

Once inside, Ash was quite surprised to find Cynthia waiting on the bench.

"Whoa. How did you get here so fast, Cynthia?"

The blond smiled. "Champion's privilege." she responded mysteriously as she rose from the bench. The Pallet native simply raised an eyebrow as she approached him. She stopped in front of him and extended her hand to pet Pikachu, who closed his eyes blissfully under the attention.

"He's been particularly exceptional today." she said as she scratched the electric mouse behind the ears, much to his delight. "I also was quite impressed by that Charizard of yours. He looked like he could give my Garchomp a challenge."

Ash smiled. "Thanks. For that, and for yesterday. In fact, did I thank you for all those discussions we had?"

The Champion's smile widened. "You don't have to thank me, Ash. I enjoy talking with you, it's quite relaxing."

She and Ash had held private conversations several times when his group and her had crossed paths. Sometimes, she would just talk about her love of mythology and the fascination she had for legendary pokemons and Ash would tell her some of the amazing adventures that had led him to meet said legendary pokemons. Other times, he would ask for advice as he felt like he wasn't good enough and she would cheer him up or he'd ask her about her life as a Champion.

Still, both of them had enjoyed each other's company and it had created quite a strong friendship between them.

"I would congratulate you right now, but I think I'll save that for tomorrow." She said as she drew her hand back. "What did Tobias want when he approached you?" she asked.

Ash shrugged. "He wanted to know how Pikachu was so strong and when I said I didn't really know why, he asked me if he often had electric flu."

Cynthia blinked, her face turning concerned. "Is that true?"

He nodded. "Yeah." he suddenly looked nervous. "Why? Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Cynthia pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh as she muttered something that sounded like "why didn't I realize it sooner?" before she looked back at him. "It's not wrong or grave per se, but it explains a few things I wondered about Pikachu. Don't worry," she added, seeing the look on their faces, "it's something that can easily be remedied. But I'll tell you later." she then put a hand on his shoulder. "Your friends are surely waiting for you. Shall we?" she said with a reassuring smile.

Ash smiled back, albeit it was still a worried smile, and nodded before he started toward the exit door, Cynthia following behind him. He was about to go back the way he had come him when she stopped him.

"Unless you want to face a dozen ravenous reporters right now, I suggest we get out using the VIP exit." she teased and he blushed. He hadn't thought about it. Of course people would want to interview him after such a match!

"You know... you're right. I don't think I want to. Lead the way, milady." he said as straight faced as possible, trying to ignore the small butterflies in his stomach when he heard her laugh soflty.

"Alright, then. Follow me." Cynthia said as she turned and walked down the other way of the corridor.

A few minutes later, they were outside the stadium, where they were met by Brock, Dawn and Barry.

"Ash!" Dawn shouted before she hugged him. "That was a great battle! Well done!" she congratulated him as she released him.

Brock chuckled. "It was more than great, Ash. That was extraordinary, to say the least. I'll be surprised if that doesn't make the front page tomorrow."

"Yeah!" Barry shouted. "There was a least twenty reporters waiting for you at the trainer exit. Good thing mister Goodshow told us you would come out this side, or we would've had to fight our way through!"

The raven haired trainer scratched the back of his neck with an embarrassed smile. "Probable. Thankfully, Cynthia caught me before I could go that way." he replied before shaking his head. "But enough about that. Let's head for the pokemon center, all right? I must heal everyone and I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty hungry."

The others chuckled as they nodded and the group started to make its way toward the pokemon center.

X

Not far away, Team Rocket was running for dear life as they were chased by a wave of reporters. James was disguised as Ash, Jessie as Dawn and Meowth had, somehow, managed to pass himself for a Pikachu.

" _THE TWERP OWES US ONE!"_ was the thought running through their heads as they accelerated, their bags of winnings clutched in their arms. Their day had been very profitable and they had decided to make a favor for the Twerp this one time.

Was it worth being hounded by a bunch of people wanting to drown them in questions?

Every. Single. Second of it.

* * *

 **And I'm finally done. All thirty eight pages of it. That's almost twice what I usually do for my FE fanfic chapters.**

 **And I still decided to cut there, else I could have added ten more pages, at least.**

 **I tried my best to make things interesting and not cliché (much) and I hope I managed to do it right.**

 **And for those who wonder where Pikachu's last attack came from, look up Volt Shock Fist, Pikachu's Burst Attack in Pokken Tournament.**

 **Do leave a review if you have anything to say. As always, I accept everything aside from baseless flaming.**

 **This is MidnightFenrir, author of "Wheel of Fate", signing out.**


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